Dirges
by MellowPaper
Summary: He lost his parents in a fire. So did she. He has a desire for revenge. So does she. He has a demon butler to carry out his every command. So does she. What will happen when the Queen's Guard Dog crosses paths with this Gothic British lolita? My first fanfiction; reviews are welcome but please, no flames. Rated T for some violence and language. I do not own Kuroshitsuji.
1. Prologue

**Well, not quite sure what to say, except for that this is my first fan fiction! I have always been a fan of Black Butler and have been wanting to write a fan fiction of it for a while. To anyone who reads this, I hope that you enjoy! :)**

**Important Note: I have not (unfortunately) read the Black Butler manga, and it has been some time since I watched the anime, so please keep this in mind while you read.**

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I had always loathed the music box that my mother had given me.

_The small girl, no more than ten, gazed up in awe at the unfamiliar object in her mother's hands. _

_"What is that, Mama?" she inquired, standing on her tiptoes in hopes of a better view._

_"It's a music box, little one," the mother replied, her thin lips curving upward into a warm smile. _

_"What does it do?" The child's pale eyes were bright with wonder at the mention of the name._

_The mother knelt down so that she was eye-to-eye with her daughter, her large frilled skirt pooling about her on the Oriental rug beneath their feet. "It plays a very special song, one meant for us and only us. It's been in our family for generations. Our ancestors all had the chance to listen to its beautiful melody, and now, it's your turn to hear it."_

It's small, dingy, and looks like the kind of thing you'd find tossed aside in an attic somewhere, lost and forgotten under assorted cheap baubles and knickknacks, reeking of decay, and coated in dust. Lots and lots of dust.

_Up close, it was even more wondrous than previously expected. The large box, crafted of a fine, exotic red wood, was etched with gold swirls and lines on its sides, forming an intricate pattern unlike anything the girl had ever seen before. Four large pegs on the bottom of the box mimicked a lion's paws and allowed the music box to stand up in the gossamer folds of her mother's skirt. Engraved into its lid was the family crest, a great bird with its wings spread wide and talons outstretched, confirming its rightful owners. The girl couldn't find any words to describe what she thought. "It's… it's…."her voice broke off there as she was lost in staring at it again. In the box's glossy surface, it was easy to see her large eyes shining, her little mouth open in wonder, and her cheeks rosy with delight._

_Her mother smiled, pleased with her daughter's reaction. "Beautiful, isn't it?" The child nodded her head, curls bouncing to and fro. "The best part is, we haven't even _gotten to _the good stuff yet." The mother held out her arm in an inviting gesture, and the girl plopped down in her mother's lap, snuggling up to her chest. _

There's a saying out there that says it's what's inside that counts. Whoever came up with that one is a liar. I don't think I can even call it a song, the noise that comes out of that bloody box.

_The girl bounced lightly in her mother's lap in anticipation as her mother turned the key inserted in the box's side. _Tick, tick, tick… _the girl felt her tiny heart beating excitedly, as she knew whatever sound was to come out of the box was going to be amazing. "Just a few more winds, and…" The box made a slight clicking noise, signaling that it had been wound to maximum capacity. "There. Are you ready for this, little one?" The girl's mother asked. The child_ _nodded vigorously._

_The mother released her hold on the key, and…. _

_The most beautiful melody the child had ever heard slowly trickled out of the box. Many different tunes blended together into a perfect sound, its lilting, haunting echo leaving the girl breathless. She felt a shiver run down her spine at its sheer beauty, and she nuzzled closer to her mother as the song got louder. She didn't know what it was, but the girl wished for the song to go on forever and ever, for this moment to never pass. Here, in the comfort of her mother's arms with this lovely song wrapped around them, she felt truly safe and secure._

I wouldn't have minded the box nearly as much if it were some decoration in our old summer home in Paris, something I didn't have to lay my eyes on every day, let alone listen to. But, of course, my mother clearly had other plans when she gave it to me as a gift. It couldn't have gotten any damn better than that.

_"Mama, I love this box, it's so pretty and perfect," The girl said with a light giggle._

_Her mother smiled again and ruffled her daughter's long curls. "I'm glad that you think so, my dear, because it's for you." The girl jerked her head up to stare into her mother's warm caramel eyes._

_"D-Do you mean it?" She dared to ask as the music slowly began to build momentum._

_Her mother nodded. "As I said before, this box has been in the family for generations. Your great-great grandmother passed this box down to her daughter, your grandmother, and she passed it down to me, and now I'm passing it down to you," she said. "You are proving to be quite a sweet, responsible little girl, and I feel that it should go to you now. Tomorrow is your birthday after all, and I think that this is the perfect gift for you. I just couldn't wait to give it to you, so… happy early birthday, my dear."_

_The song continued to rise, getting louder and louder._

_"Oh, Mama, this is the best gift ever! Thank you so much!" The girl wrapped her little arms around her mother, who hugged her daughter back tightly._

_Louder, and louder-_

_"I can't wait to show Papa my gift," the girl exclaimed happily. "It's so perfect... I love it. I love you, Mama."_

_Even higher and louder-_

_"I'm so glad that you are happy, my little angel. I love you, too."_

_The noise was about to reach its peak-_

_The girl pulled away to look into her mother's eyes and opened her mouth to say something else. Whatever it was she was going to say, it was lost forever as the doors opened._

_The song erupted into a frenzied panic of clashing tones as a man fell forward into the room, red billowing from a large wound in his head that splattered everywhere, staining the surrounding walls and furniture. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the girl's mother leaped to her feet, her eyes wide in terror as she uttered a deep, piercing scream. The box fell from her skirt and thudded against the rug and the girl fell backward against the floor, her body frozen in place in sheer terror and disbelief. All of this happened in a matter of seconds._

_More tones rattled out of the box, frantic and desperate._

_Before the mother could even rush to her husband's fallen body, a torrent of harsh, flashing lights erupted from the doorway, filling the room with deafening sound. The girl looked up in horror as her mother's body was thrown backward, little red pinpricks blooming all over her body with each impact as she fell back, her caramel eyes rolling backwards into her skull and her hair flying forward._

_This could not be happening._

_The girl's hands shook violently and she finally found the strength to stand. She was suddenly over her mother's body, but she did not recall moving her feet. Her mother's eyes were bare, the thin lips parted and still, and every inch of her oozing red._

_No._

_Red. It was everywhere._

_All she could see was the red._

_The entire house was cloaked in a red veil, this red unforgiving veil that sucked away her screams and her tears._

_It couldn't be._

_It was all pure red, covering every inch of the walls, the floor, the ceiling._

_Her strength departed as she plummeted down, becoming one of the fallen herself._

_Now they entered the room, searching for wealth. Furniture was overturned, fine china shattered. The music box played. _

_The red still remained. _

_They were upon her next. One yanked her from her mother, delivered a smashing kick to the ribs. Another pounded at her head, seized her hair, and spat in her face. She felt only red._

_Blood trickled down her cheek and bubbled up from her throat, acidic and salty. She tasted only red._

_They filled her ears with harsh screams and demands, striking her further when she failed to reply. She heard only red. _

_She was deemed useless and tossed aside with one final pounding. Now the flames were visible, licking the air from an overturned candle. She saw only red._

_The tune from the box began to slowly fade, as the song neared its end._

_The flames lashed out with an insatiable hunger. Smoke billowed, stinging her eyes and clogging her nose, but all she could smell was red._

_It was all over. _

_From this place on the broken floor in the broken room in the broken, burning house, the end was near._

_Debris and rubble rained down on everything without mercy and she felt her eyes shut, her mind slipping away and leaving only a red shell of what she had once been._

_The golden key clicked back into its original position. The final high-pitched note echoed through the austere silence, only fading when the last of the great old house had burned to the ground._

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The music box had been the worst gift that I had ever received, but it was all that I had left.

I recall waking up in the exact spot that I had been thrown, though how I hadn't been reduced to dust was a mystery. Even bigger a mystery was the detestable box, lying on its side with ashes thinly dispersed across it but other than that unscathed.

Though I don't know whether its survival or my own is more astounding, I do know this for certain:

That night means absolutely nothing to me as it means absolutely everything to me,

It's as little of an influence on my life as it is a dominant factor of my life,

And I so desperately want to forget it as much as I so desperately want to remember it.

I'm certain that I am not the only one who has experienced such horrible affairs. I have heard rumors of a young man in London whose parents met similar fates, someone by the name of Phantomhive. Whoever he may be, I'm sure our paths will intertwine at one point or another.

I'm also certain that the events that took place that night were no coincidence, that those men hadn't just happened upon my home. Anything that organized and swiftly executed had to have been planned.

Whoever is responsible for my parent's deaths will pay. They will be identified, they will be hunted down, and they WILL be brought to justice for the lives that they stole.

My name is Ophelia Malory. I am the daughter of Gideon and Caroline, the head of my forgotten house, and the executor of all things dark and grotesque. This is my story.

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**...And there you have it, folks, the start of my new fic! I should have the first real chapter posted soon, and with it will come some familiar faces! Reviews make me happy, and they help me improve as a writer, so please be sure to leave me a nice little note. :)**

**'Til next time,**

** MellowPaper**


	2. I

**Okay, as promised, here's chapter one! Hope you enjoy! I own none of the characters except for Ophelia, and her mysterious traveling companion that you shall meet shortly. **

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"Are you certain this is the place, my lady?"

I stepped down through the carriage door held open by my escort, placing one corkscrew heel onto the cement. A light breeze lifted the frills on the hem of my dress, played with them for a moment, and then dropped them again. "I am quite positive. Have I ever been wrong before?" I asked him as I placed my second foot onto the ground.

He proceeded to shut the carriage door before looking down to me. Even when equipped with heels, I barely stood at five feet, only a little higher than his navel. "I have never doubted your abilities, my young mistress. I only ask because you have never met this man before, and yet you are so positive that he lives here, in these woods." His dark crimson eyes regarded me with the level expression that I had come to know and expect from him.

I adjusted the tie on my woolen trench coat. "I know it's not like me to take a risk without any hard credentials, but…" I paused mid-sentence and looked around, turning in a slight semicircle to take in my surroundings. Tall shady trees rose up all around us and seemed to stretch on for miles, perhaps even endlessly. A fine mist snaked through a couple of trunks and settled on the grass. Not far off, an impressive, stately manor stood, ringed by meticulously cut lawns and some gardens, an elegant fountain in front of it. Except for the occasional bird chirp and leaf rustle, the area was quiet. Although it was certainly calming to be enveloped in silence, it also put me on edge. A more sinister feeling seemed to be lurking in the undertones of the tranquil scenery, and I subconsciously felt myself become tense.

I realized that I had not finished my sentence. Turning back to face my escort, I said, "… but I just know that it has to be here- that HE has to be here. I don't know how I know this, but I do. I can feel it."

His dark eyes lingered on me for another moment, and then he straightened back up and dropped his stare. "Well, instinct typically never lies, especially your own." He adjusted his silken black gloves and turned to face the manor. His dark hair concealed his eyes, so I couldn't read into his expression, but I could see his jaw clench ever-so-slightly. Clearly he could feel the tension as well. After a few more moments of looking at the estate, he turned back to me, his serious expression changing into a much more cheerful one. His thin, chiseled lips curled upward into a smile as he said in an upbeat tone, "well, there's no point in standing around, now is there? We've traveled all this way, so we should make our move." He extended his right arm out to me, silk-clad fingers curled in a beckoning gesture. "Shall we?"

I smiled mirthfully. "We shall." I linked my arm through his, and we started our stroll towards the manor. My escort took dominant steps and put himself slightly ahead of me, and I allowed him to lead. We walked in silence, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence between the two of us. With each step we drew closer to the mansion and its front door, and with each step the lingering sense of uneasiness gnawed more and more at my senses. _Why do I feel this way? It's not like this is the first time I've confronted someone before. _Perhaps it was because this particular "someone" wasn't like all of the others I'd met with before. This someone had a connection to me, one quite unlike any other people I'd encountered. In addition to that… this was the first time that my escort had been affected significantly by one of my meetings.

I turned my head away from the landscape and looked up at my escort. The slight breeze raised his inky hair, blowing it against his pale skin so that he had to sweep it back again with his hand continuously. His red eyes were locked on the approaching manor, his expression unreadable. Normally when I would look up at him, he would turn to look at me and offer one of his small smiles before looking back to the path ahead. He did not do that now, even though I knew for a fact that he could feel my gaze.

The two of us had been working together for quite some time now. Ever since we had first met, he had always been the perfect assistant. He always did whatever I wanted him to do, subservient to every command no matter how outlandish or dangerous it might be. I'd come to know what every expression, every gesture, and every tone to his voice meant, and I could easily predict his reaction to any particular situation. The way that he was acting now was unlike anything I had ever seen; at first I assumed that he was just moody from hours of driving, but it was starting to become unsettling now. I slowed my walk considerably, having made up my mind, and I squeezed the fabric of his coat slightly to get his attention.

Now he turned to look at me. "Is something the matter, my lady?" He asked with slight concern in his eyes.

"I…" His gaze was so powerful that I lost my words for a moment. "I was just wondering why you've been so quiet recently. Ever since we were within an hour or so of this place, you've... changed," I quickly finished. _Damn, pull yourself together. He's not going to bite you._

His expression was, again, impossible to read. "I appreciate your concern, my lady, but, really, there is nothing to be concerned about." He stopped walking now, turned to face me completely, and put his gloved hands on my shoulders. "I just had some underlying disquiets, that's all. I apologize if my behavior has troubled you any." He smiled genuinely at me now.

I didn't let him off the hook. "What 'underlying disquiets' have you had?" When he did not respond, I narrowed my eyes and locked my gaze onto his. "When I ask a question, I expect an answer."

He sighed and said, "alright, I can't put anything past you, can I, my lady? I just feel that the residents of that manor… will not be so welcoming of me." His expression darkened for a moment, and then quickly returned to normal.

"Nonsense," I scoffed. "Everyone that we have come into contact with has been a fan of you, all of those young ladies especially," I said with a smirk after the last part of the sentence. "Trust me; you have nothing to worry about." I then proceeded to rumple the sleeve of his jacket.

He looked down at the crinkled sleeve with a perturbed look. "You know I hate it when you mess up my clothing," he muttered as he smoothed the wrinkles back into place.

"I'm perfectly aware, that's why I did it," I said, grinning evilly. He just looked at me, shook his head slightly, and turned back to the direction of the manor. We continued our walk up towards the manor and we were soon to the door. As my escort raised his knuckles to knock, I felt the underlying nerves that I'd been experiencing suddenly lift. I couldn't help but smile darkly as the door started to open. _Ah, yes, this was going to be brilliant._

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Ciel Phantomhive sat idly in the carriage, his chin resting against his fist and his eyes on the quickly passing scenery. He was returning from some brief errands in the city and a short visit to his Funtom Toy Company. The company was doing quite well currently, with a high demand for some newer products and an increase in sales. Not that this was surprising to Ciel. He was always certain in his successes; after all, he did not lose often. With a light sigh, the young earl, bored by the rushing landscapes, turned his attention to the ring on his left thumb, which he idly twisted from side to side, the deep blue stone reflecting some fleeting rays of sunlight.

It had been quite some time since a new case had come in, or, since anything of relative significance had occurred. It was very irksome to Ciel, as he was not accustomed to such a thing happening. There was _always _something going on in London, after all. As the Queen's guard dog, Ciel had always been on the pulse of any goings-on, and when one task had been completed, there would be another one waiting soon after. There would always be another. That is, until now. Ciel quit messing with his ring and flopped back against the seat of the carriage, closing his one visible eye. _How long is it going to bloody take before the next rat shows his face? _He thought, gripping the head of his cane in frustration._ I cannot keep making trips into town for the sole purpose of leisure. I need a purpose, a task, hell, I need SOMETHING. Anything to get rid of this boredom… _

The carriage came to an abrupt halt, jerking Ciel out of his reverie. He promptly sat up and peered out the window and frowned, irritated. "Why in the hell is the carriage not moving? We aren't nearly to the manor yet." Ciel peered out the window, straining his neck to see the road ahead, and he saw Sebastian approaching with a dark expression on his face. Ciel frowned. _He rarely looks this way. Something's up._ He picked up his cane and started to stand as Sebastian opened the carriage door, his expression lightening upon seeing Ciel, but still serious nonetheless.

"What is the problem, Sebastian? Why have you stopped the carriage?" Ciel asked, stepping down to the ground. He walked up and stood next to Sebastian, who shut the carriage door before turning to his young master.

"_That_ is the problem, _bocchan_," Sebastian said, tilting his head in the direction of the path ahead of the carriage. Ciel's gaze drifted in the direction Sebastian referred to, and he felt himself tense up.

Parked off to the side of the path was another carriage. It was large, about twice the size of the Phantomhive carriage, and it was quite unlike anything Ciel had ever seen. It was completely constructed out of a shiny black metal, with a silver pattern stretching from the front quarter to the rear quarter on both sides. Six massive wheels lined the bottom, with silver spokes made out of jagged, cut metal and large silver spikes for hubcaps. The roof of the carriage was solid black metal, as opposed to a cloth folding head, and jutting from the top of the roof was a small pole with a large silver bird- perhaps a hawk?- on the other end of it. The bird, which appeared to be furnished of a fine silver, had its large wings spread and its feet outstretched in front of it, talons and all. Its eyes were two deeply colored rubies, and the eyes, though clearly inanimate, seemed to follow Ciel's gaze. The same image of the bird could be seen on four small silken emerald flags, which were attached to bent metal poles outside the carriage's windows. Two massive black stallions stood deathly still at the reigns; if not for an occasional ear twitch, they could have passed for statues. The carriage screamed power and authority; an ominous aura seemed to emanate from it. Ciel gripped the head of his cane tightly. Whoever owned this carriage, they meant business.

"It doesn't look like anything from around here," Ciel said absently, still at a loss for any real words. Sebastian nodded darkly. Ciel turned to his butler, trying to read his thoughts on the situation. Sebastian simply looked at the carriage, his red eyes assessing every little detail. However, Ciel saw Sebastian's jaw twitch, his gloved fists discreetly clench. _He knows something about its origins. _Ciel opened his mouth to speak, but Sebastian suddenly turned to face him, his expression even more grim than before.

"My lord. We must get back to the manor. _Now." _Ciel felt his spine tighten at the deepness of Sebastian's tone. _Whatever's going on, it must be really bad._ Ciel nodded quickly, dropping all thoughts of asking a question. In one swift move, Sebastian picked Ciel up in his arms, pressing his small body against his chest, and sprinted across the path, his feet lifting off of the ground. Normally Ciel would have objected to being handled in such a way, but under the current circumstances he didn't complain. As the manor came closer and closer, Ciel couldn't help but feel that the period of dullness he had been trapped in was coming to an end.

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Presently, the two reached the manor. Sebastian landed on his feet and gently set Ciel down next to him. The earl and his butler scanned the property. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, but a tense feeling was certainly in the air.

A loud chopping sound pierced the silence, echoing across the lawn. Ciel felt his breath hitch at the sound and he tensed, guard up. Sebastian whirled and stepped in front of Ciel protectively, his red eyes narrowing as he turned to face…. a familiar figure tending to the shrubs.

Ciel silently let out a sigh of relief, then mentally facepalmed. _I was frightened of _him_? _Sebastian had a similar look on his face, clearly feeling the same way. "Finnian," he said aloud.

The strawberry-blonde gardener turned his head, turquoise eyes widening. "Mr. Sebastian! Young Master! You're back!" Finnian beamed and waved a hand in greeting. "It's great to see you- GAH!" While waving to them, he had subconsciously continued his trimming job with his other hand and had ended up cutting off a good portion of the bush he'd been working on. "Oh, oh no! My super- strength! I am so sorry!" Finnian hurriedly tried to salvage the chopped shrubbery, but he presently stopped when Sebastian held up his hand.

"Don't worry about the bush now," Sebastian said, his earlier serious expression replaced with his usual courteous one. He was clearly not going to show any form of concern in front of the young gardener. "There is something else of more importance now. Tell me, Finnian, what do you know of a carriage parked not far from the manor?" Sebastian pointed one finger in the direction of the massive black vehicle.

"Carriage…?" Finnian looked in that direction, scrunched up his eyes, and adjusted his straw hat to block out the sun. His expression turned to one of understanding. "Oh! Yes, that carriage. Two individuals came here while you were away, said that they have a meeting with you both, Ciel specifically."

Ciel felt a knot begin to twist itself in the pit of his stomach, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. _What do these people want with me? _He turned to look at Sebastian, who, again, seemed to be feeling the same way. Ciel looked back to Finnian and started, "What d-"

Sebastian interrupted Ciel, cutting him off, much to the young master's chagrin. "Finnian, answer me this. If these two individuals came to the manor with a desire to meet with the Young Master and I while we were not here, then why is it that their carriage is still parked as if they are currently here?"

"Well… that's because they ARE currently here, Mr. Sebastian, sir," Finnian said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. He quickly balked when he noticed Sebastian's heated expression. "I-it's not my fault, Sebastian sir! I wasn't the one who let them in, I swear! I-it was Mey-Rin who did it! She was going to tell them you two were out and send them on their way, but they were particularly persuasive, and… er, she sort of was enamored with one of them and just couldn't say no. I'm so sorry Mr. Sebastian, Young Master! Forgive us!" Finnian bowed down in shame, whimpering slightly.

Sebastian sighed. _Of course Mey-Rin let them in,_ he thought. "No need to forgive me, Finnian, as you were not the one who did it. I will personally discuss this with Mey-Rin later. Please, just tell me one thi-"

Now it was Sebastian's turn to be cut off. "Finnian, can you please describe these two visitors to our home for me?" Ciel stepped out in front of Sebastian and asked the gardener, who had regained his composure and was rubbing at his nose with the back of his hand. Sebastian blinked, not expecting the interruption, but he said nothing.

Finnian nodded eager to make up for his clumsiness and blubbering. "Of course, Young Master Ciel. There're two of them, a young lady about your age and a man I'm guessing about Sebastian's age. Judging off their clothing I don't think that they are from around this area, but they seem important, like they're of power." Ciel nodded, taking in the information, and Finnian continued. "Anyway, the girl is young and very short, but she's got a steely glare to her eyes and she holds herself in a way that's quite mature for her age. I could've easily mistaken her for an older teenager. As for the man with her, I'm fairly certain he's her Sebastian equivalent. He has the clothes of a butler and the disposition of one too. He seems quite friendly and sociable." Finnian paused and frowned. "I think that's all, but I feel like I'm missing something… oh! Yes, that's right; the man said something about knowing who Sebastian is."

Ciel felt the knot in his stomach, which had slowly began to unravel, retighten so quickly that he inaudibly grunted. Sebastian's face remained the same, but it was clear that a storm cloud was brewing behind his eyes. However, despite the new information, Sebastian didn't skip a beat. "Thank you for the information, Finnian. The young master and I will go meet with these visitors and determine what it is that they want. Continue with your gardening, but please, try not to annihilate any more shrubs." After Ciel nodded his thanks and Finnian apologized once more for hacking the bush in two, Sebastian and Ciel headed up and into the manor, the heavy doors swinging shut behind them.

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Once in the manor, Sebastian turned to face Ciel, his expression once again heavy. "_Bocchan_, I'm going to have to ask you to stay behind me until we find these two," he said, his tone serious.

"What, do you not think that I can handle myself?" Ciel protested, gritting his teeth. "You heard what Finny said; these two mainly want to meet with _me_, so that makes this _my_ business. Therefore, I should confront them myself, should I not?"

Sebastian's expression looked somewhat pained, as he did not wish to anger Ciel. "I understand your frustration, my lord, but I fear for your safety. Based off of what Finnian told us, I have some ideas as to who has come to pay us a visit today, and none of them are good. In fact, I am almost quite certain in who is here, and if I am right, your life is most certainly at risk. The last thing I would want, the last thing any of us would want, would be to have our precious Young Master perish early." Sebastian's hand came to rest on Ciel's shoulder as he said this. "For this reason, my lord, I urge you to stay behind me for now."

Ciel sighed, as Sebastian really was right. "Fine, I'll play… for now." He took his position behind Sebastian. "Just know that if something were to happen I'm not just going to stand behind you and twiddle my thumbs."

Sebastian smiled slightly. "I would expect nothing less of you, my lord. Now, then, let's go find them, the sooner we take care of this, the better; I'm due to start preparing supper in a matter of hours." Sebastian's hand hovered over his pocket watch and then dropped again. He began walking forward into the manor and Ciel followed suit, still frustrated by his current condition. _Supper had better be bloody delicious, after all this._

So far, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary in the manor. Everything was in the correct place, and nothing appeared to be disturbed. It was also quiet; Mey-Rin, Tanaka, and Baldroy were nowhere to be seen. Ciel's mind began to wander. _Finnian said a girl around my age wanted to see me… I wonder what this girl could possibly want from me anyways. And how does she even know me? Based off of the looks of that carriage and Finnian's information, I think I would have remembered someone like her, escort included. Speaking of… _Ciel looked up at the back of Sebastian's head. The butler was quietly advancing through the hall, his body tensed up at every little sound. _Sebastian's supposed to know this man she travels with, but there's no way that they could be accomplices by any means. Not with Sebastian acting like this. _Ciel couldn't help but feel worried. After all, his butler had always been so calm and collected, even when Ciel was in trouble. Now, with Sebastian's intense expression and body language, Ciel knew that whatever could induce such behavior from Sebastian was a real danger.

Sebastian suddenly froze, and Ciel nearly bumped into his backside. He was going to ask the butler what was the matter, but then Ciel saw it for himself. Standing in the doorway to one of the manor's sitting rooms was a man about Sebastian's age. He was extremely tall at around six foot three, making him taller than Sebastian. He had extremely pale skin and long, spiky jet black hair just past his shoulders and bangs across his forehead, styled in a way that Ciel perceived to be "artfully messy." He stood with the demeanor that a typical butler would, but he seemed to carry himself with an extremely high level of class. He was dressed in black dress trousers, a black tailcoat with emerald along the hem and sleeve cuffs, a deep emerald vest, a color which, Ciel noticed, matched the flags on the carriage outside, and black pointed-toe leather dress shoes. His tie had veins of multiple shades of greens and dark greys running through it, as did the thin satin rope he used to tie his hair back in a low ponytail. On the lapel pin attached to his coat and on his cufflinks, the image of that bird with its wings stretched could be seen. His eyes were a deep shade of red, much darker than Sebastian's, and they were flecked with various tints and shades of the color. Just behind the man, in the room, Ciel could make out what looked like a figure sitting in a chair, their back to Ciel, and he could hear giggles from Mey-Rin inside. The man's expression was a calm one, but when he laid eyes on Sebastian, his handsome features morphed into a smirk. "Well, well, well…" the man said in a thick English accent. "If it isn't Sebastian Michaelis."

Sebastian was frozen perfectly in place, his expression one of disbelief and also of aggression. Ciel couldn't help but back up a step. "Mathias Keane," he said, his voice low, "I never pictured that the two of us would reunite again. It certainly is a surprise to see you." He presently straightened up and offered a sly smile of his own to the man. Ciel, tired of hiding behind Sebastian's back, slightly moved to the right so that Mathias could see him. The man's red eyes widened slightly then reduced to normal.

"So this is the young Earl that my master has told me so much about," Mathias said curtly. He turned his head slightly so that those in the room behind him could hear, and said, "My lady Ophelia, he is here."

The figure seated in the chair presently stood up, making her way into the hall to stand by Mathias. She was certainly young and quite short, just as Finnian had described her; she was barely Ciel's height despite the black patent-leather, lace-up, knee-high stilettos she was wearing. She was pale, petite, and extremely skinny, with defined, sharp cheekbones, rosy cheeks, small but full red lips and large, extremely pale green eyes that looked a hint pastel. They popped against dark black and grey eye makeup, giving her the face of some delicate, Gothic doll. However, her gaze was sharp, strong, and hard, so Ciel could tell that she was no innocent sweet young girl. Her hair was a very pale white blonde that had chocolate and dark browns mixed into its tips, along with some swirls of cherry red and black. Her hair was pulled up into a massive bun on the top of her head, held in place by a large black and grey striped taffeta bow with a bird skull at its center. Two ringlets hung down, one on each side of her face, and fringed bangs hid her eyebrows. She was dressed in a sleeveless dark grey dress that stopped just above the knees. The dress had a petticoat skirt, black frills along its hem, a huge black satin bow across its back that was attached to a black band cinched around her waist, and a large black ruffled stand-up collar that hid the back of her neck. On her arms, she wore black, elbow-length, fingerless gloves that shimmered in the light. Like Ciel, she wore two rings, one on her right thumb and the other on her left pinky finger. They were rather elaborate, with the first ring containing a black stone on a thick engraved silver band and the second one being a dark garnet stone on a thin silver band, ringed by tiny teardrop-shaped diamonds. She also wore a large necklace with matching black and red stones. An obsidian serpent earring was on her left ear; the tail of the serpent seemed to stab through her earlobe and the body of the snake wrapped up through her ear cartilage. All of this combined added up to Ciel's breath being knocked clean out of him. It wasn't that he thought she was beautiful (which she was), it was just in the way she carried herself. Although she was younger and tinier than him, she stood in such a way that she seemed to uphold a position of authority, and a high one at that. An ominous aura seemed to radiate from every fiber of her being, and Ciel felt a lump rise in his throat. She was certainly powerful, and she wasn't afraid or intimidated by anyone. She was definitely a threat.

At the sight of Ciel, the girl, Ophelia, seemed to brighten up. Her bright red lips curled upward into a smile, an expression one might find on a cat with a wriggling mouse between its paws. She took a step forward, towards him, and Ciel could not bring himself to move away. Her lips parted and she spoke one sentence, one simple sentence that made Ciel's blood run cold.

"Earl Ciel Phantomhive, son of Vincent. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

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**So it looks like we have some meetings _and_ some reunions going on in the Phantomhive manor. How is it that Sebastian and Mathias know each other? What has Ophelia come to see Ciel for? And will Finnian ever be able to stop mauling the garden? Guess we'll have to keep reading to find out... ;) The next chapter should be up fairly soon, I hope to post it ASAP. Until then, I wish you good fortune and reading, and other nice happy stuff. x3 Don't forget to review!**

**Ciao!**

** -MellowPaper**


	3. II

**Hey, guys, Mellow here. I meant to have this chapter up a lot sooner than now, but my teachers decided to throw four tests, one miniature essay, two quizzes AND a whole art project at me in one week. It was ****_horrible, _****let me tell you; I couldn't have been more grateful for the weekend to get here. x_x **

**Well anyways enough about that, let's get on to what's important here: the next chapter of my fic! I hope that it was well worth your wait! Enjoy.**

* * *

"Would you care for some more tea, Miss Malory, Madame?"

I turned my head to look up at the bespectacled maid who was positioned uncomfortably close to the armchair in which I sat, hefty teapot held at the ready with a smile so radiant that it nearly exhausted me. I offered her an overly cheerful smile and replied, "I appreciate your attentiveness, really, Mey-Rin, but I am still doing quite well with the _FIRST_ cup you poured for me." I realized that my tone was a bit brusque but I did not particularly care, as this was probably the fifth or sixth time that she had asked and I was frankly becoming quite agitated with her. _Seriously, how excessive can you get?_ I leaned forward and picked up my teacup, taking a sip of the now-lukewarm drink as if to prove a point to her.

The redheaded maid just beamed at me, clearly failing to pick up on my cynicism, and presently materialized next to Mathias, who was standing solitary behind my chair, one gloved hand resting on its leathery top. "Would you care for anything, Mister Mathias, sir? The tea's awful nice today and we've got tasty scones too!" Mey-Rin's voice became quite giggly in his presence and a rosy tint had settled across her cheeks that hadn't been present moments before. Her hands quivered as they clutched the teapot, and I half expected her fingers to give way and the porcelain container to shatter on the cold wooden floor. I rolled my eyes. Every woman that Mathias meets always acts the same way: like a sporadic moth flitting about the radiant good looks that dripped off of his statuesque frame. Mathias, used to this tone and expression, simply smiled at his new fan and kindly shook his head. "Thank you very much for the offer, but I'm going to decline for now. I must stay here with my young mistress, and she is always my first priority." He smiled down at the top of my head and I internally returned the gesture. _Good boy, don't forget that. _Mey-Rin, after recovering from a near-swooning, gave him a curtsy and scuttled off to the side of the room.

"So mindful, this one," said Mathias, his crimson gaze following the flouncing skirt and frilly headpiece as she went. "You really know how to give them instruction, Michaelis." He now turned to face the butler opposite him, who was standing in a similar position and location at the other end of the spacious sitting room, almost his mirror image in that sense.

Sebastian Michaelis smiled across the way, his red eyes glinting. "But of course. A Phantomhive butler who can't do that much isn't worth his salt." His polite expression contrasted his impertinent tone, which was so obviously pointed that it was almost amusing to me. Mathias ignored Sebastian's rude intonation and just smiled back before his expression quickly faded into the simple and serious one that had been present for the entirety of our time here. Sebastian's expression, however, changed to a rather contemptuous smirk, and the man was presently ogling Mathias from his separate end of the room with an inept silence that's to be expected when there's nothing left or desired to be said. Mathias did not return a dark glare of his own, but it was apparent that he was restraining himself from saying something. The tension between the two of them was so suffocatingly thick that I felt I could cut it with one of the small butter knives neatly arranged around the plate of scones that had been prepared for us. It was extremely immature and quite irritating. _For the love of God, quit sneering at my butler, you hideous fucking demon spawn. He's acting like a proper man while you just keep giving him the evil eye. For goodness sake, just untwist your pantaloons already._ I took another sip of my tea, made bitter by the nagging drama, and clinked it down rather forcefully against its plate, producing a loud clanging noise that caused the staring contest to break up and the stiffness to diffuse for the moment.

The two had been like this ever since they had laid eyes on each other not even five minutes before. After Mathias had stepped out of the sitting room that Mey-Rin had invited us into and had run into Sebastian and the young earl Phantomhive, his calm, collected personality and the aura of benevolence he had displayed around the blushing maid had switched themselves out for a mien full of discontent. It was obvious that the two did not like each other on any standards, though the reasons behind such behaviors were still a mystery to me. Even though Mathias and I had been traveling partners for several years now, and I knew his personality and mannerisms like the back of my hand, his past life was mostly shrouded in mystery. Despite his outgoing psyche, the one thing that Mathias never discussed was who he had been before the uniforms and the orders, before the cooking of countless dinners and the cleaning of immeasurable messes. I never asked about it as it had never seemed important to me to know his past, as his present self was all that mattered to me. That was why I was so surprised to learn that not only did Mathias know Sebastian, but that the two had had a history as well. Of course, Ciel had quickly prevented that history from revealing itself by inviting Mathias and I in for our meeting, so that had closed the window for either butler to reveal a piece of that past. Not that I was concerned over the unknown information; I would discuss it with my butler later. Besides, there was a much more important task at hand now that I needed to devote all of my attention to.

I presently lifted my gaze to the thirteen-year old boy across the way from me, sitting in a high-backed ornate chair with one leg crossed over the other and one hand firmly grasping his teacup. The Earl Ciel Phantomhive, head of the Phantomhive estate. He was both exactly what I had expected and at the same time not at all. I knew that he was young like me, but based off of knowledge that I'd heard in whispers and fragments through old back alleys I had been picturing someone, to put it quite simply, bigger. The aura and cold-heartedness that I'd heard about so many times over sounded so immense that only one of a stronger, larger stature could possess it. Of course, it wasn't like I was one to talk on the subject of size considering my own height, but that had just been my presumption. He sat back in his chair casually with some air of indifference, as if he thought we were lowly sewer rats that had managed to surface and therefore did not deserve an elevated level of respect appropriate for one of the upper class, a disposition that I possessed as well. In his one visible eye, blue as the finest sapphires that my mother had always adorned around her neck on holidays, I could see my reflection of apathy projected outward from a cynicism just as great. He was powerful, cold-hearted, and had success in all that he attempted, with wealth, fear, and dominance at his command with the lift of a finger. He was well-respected, handsome, and living a life of luxury that many aspired to have themselves. He had it all, and yet he still was not satisfied unless every desire was fulfilled. He was an enemy and a threat, and I was going to exterminate that picture-perfect life, one word at a time.

Ciel, who had apparently been observing something rather interesting in the depths of his teacup, looked up to meet my gaze with his own. He took a sip from his teacup for the fifteenth time, I noted, since he had sat down, and set the cup gently on the table in front of him. Leaning back in his chair, the earl cleared his throat loudly to gather up everyone's attention. I felt myself sit up and completely focus on him. In the few minutes we had been sitting, not much had been said besides some "yes, pleases" and "thank-yous" to Mey-Rin as she had distributed drinks. Now, it was finally time to start discussion, to set the gears in motion.

This meeting had to go out smoothly. I had planned out everything, down to even the smallest detail. Nothing had been overlooked and every last bit and piece had been scrutinized for maximum capacity. I knew what had to be accomplished today and I was not about to lose out on what was, quite possibly, going to be the biggest development in my plan. I just had to make sure I took control. I could see Mathias straighten up a bit more out of the corner of my eye, mimicking my focus. It was time.

Ciel sat up in his chair and lifted his one-eyed gaze to meet my own. "Miss Malory," he said without emotion. He paused then to make sure he had gotten my name right, and after I gave him a brief nod to let him know that he had, Ciel continued speaking. "I have been informed that you would like to discuss something with me. Now, under normal circumstances I would only do so with a word prior, as I am one to keep everything in schedule, but since you have… _invited _yourselves in without my knowledge I will make an exception for you." _Well, someone's clearly _not _being obvious that he thinks we barged in. News flash, earl, I play by my own rules. _Ciel paused again to readjust his legs, now crossing his right leg over his left. "So, since I have no knowledge of what it is that you want from me, please, enlighten us." Ciel leaned back against his armchair and laced his fingers together, which came to rest in his lap.

I felt my lips quirk up into a devilish smile. _Time to raise hell. _"I thought you'd never ask." I stood up from my chair, my petticoat skirt ballooning around my thighs, and I turned to face the young earl, who seemed a bit startled by my action but said nothing. "Listen, Phantomhive. I'm not going to drag this out or beat around the bush. I'm not going to try and procure some tragic backstory in the hopes of tugging at your heartstrings because I know that you have none to pull on in the first place." As I said this, I began to walk in a slow circle around the table and the chair in which Ciel sat, my eyes never leaving his. "What I want is simple, and what I want is this:" I stopped walking now, and I stood next to his chair on the left side, so that he would have to turn his head to face me again. "I want to make a deal with you, Ciel Phantomhive. You are going to help me get the revenge I have longed to acquire ever since I was a child, and in exchange, I may just help you to discover who murdered _your _parents and bring them to justice as well."

An eerie silence had settled over the room. Sebastian looked rather taken aback by my proposal and appeared to have been kicked in a rather uncomfortable location by my words. Ciel was speechless as well, his blue eye wide. "What, did you not think word had spread about the 'young earl who had lost his family?'?" I asked him when he did not respond. When he still failed to reply even to that comment, I began walking around the furniture again, this time counterclockwise.

"I've heard many a story about your tragic childhood, Phantomhive, and it's one that I am perfectly familiar with. You see, Phantomhive, I know how it feels to lose a family member because that is exactly what has happened to me, not even two years ago." I gripped the fabric of my dress then, recalling some gruesome details of that fateful evening. "My parents were murdered and my home burned to the ground by a group of men whose origin is unknown to me. Even though those men died when my house collapsed, I know that they were deployed by another. Most robbers are complete buffoons; they are disorganized idiots who oftentimes are unable to complete their job because they alert whoever may be around due to their haphazardness. Even when they do manage to get through the door or remember a weapon or whatever it may be, they still make a mess of things and leave some sort of evidence behind that gets them caught in the end. These men were not like that. Every action they took was perfectly synchronized and even though their ultimate fate was a suicide break-in, they came into my home with the intention of destroying the Malory family and they succeeded." I stopped walking again. "Of course, they didn't _completely_ succeed. . . I guess there are some forms of miracles out there." I turned my head slightly and shot a grin at Mathias, who returned a smile of his own.

I looked back towards my victim, who had leaned forward in his chair with an alert expression. _Well, I've captured his attention. Time to drive it home. _"Ever since that day I have been longing to get my revenge against the party responsible for my family's demise. I guess you could say I have an infatuation with the concept of revenge. I know that you feel the same way about whoever killed your own parents; you are exactly the type of young man who would; I can tell from the way you carry yourself. You're a smart individual, Phantomhive, and I know that if the two of us were to put our heads together, we would easily find the murderers and put an end to them."

Ciel opened his mouth to say something then, as if to raise an objection, but I cut him off. "I realize what you are thinking: 'But miss Malory, you have a perfectly capable butler with you, why come seek me out?' It may be true that I have Mathias here, and it may also be true that he is quite powerful, but there is something rather tragic about my butler, you see: he is almost blind." Ciel's eye nearly popped out of his head in disbelief, but he saw that it was true. All of those tints and shades of deep red present in Mathias's irises, upon further inspection, were whirling about on the surface of his eyes, clouding his vision to a significant degree. "In addition to this impediment, there's something else that hinders him," I continued, coming to stand next to Mathias. I gave him a brief nod, and Mathias proceeded to slide back the right sleeve of his tailcoat up to his upper arm, grimacing as the fabric wrinkled under his fingertips. I saw Ciel's eye widen further and heard Sebastian utter a grunt of surprise when they saw what was underneath. Below the expensive wool was a metal contraption where his forearm should have been, attaching to a stump of discolored grey flesh near the crook of his elbow. I watched as Ciel swallowed uncomfortably, and Mathias slowly pushed his sleeve back into place, smoothing out the wrinkles as he did. "Mathias, being the proud man he is, is quite accustomed to getting into fights; one particular man just had quite the talent with a knife," I explained. Ciel just shook his head slightly, as if trying to fully comprehend what he had seen. From his place behind the chair Sebastian's eyes flashed, but he remained silent.

"So, as you can see, while I have a faithful guard dog to assist me, he cannot function to his maximum capacity and thus he is not of full help to me. However, your butler can make up for what mine lacks in strength." I lifted my eyes to look at Sebastian and held his smoldering gaze for a moment before looking back to Ciel. "With our combined intellect, Sebastian's power, and a bit of both from Mathias, we will be unstoppable. I am certain of it."

Ciel looked at me blankly, as if trying to process all that had just occurred. Finally he spoke. "You. . . certainly have a way with words, miss Malory." _Damn right I do. _"I am not making any deal with you yet, but just answer me this: how do I know that I can trust you?"

In a flash I was across the room, next to him. In one swift movement I grabbed the back of the chair with one hand and the right arm of the chair with the other, and I leaned in close, not even a mere breath's length from his face.

" Because I. Never. Lose," I said.

Ciel's eye widened and his body buckled underneath the power of that one sentence. Clearly I had struck a nerve. I could smell the fear emanating from his shaky breath in waves, mixed with the odor of tea long since drank. A gleam of perspiration had formed on his lower lip that had not been there a second previous. I did not move from my position, still staring into that quivering blue eye with my steady, unblinking gaze. There was a dead silence between us, I was certain neither of us was breathing. Ciel's lips parted and a noise barely audible, some quivering cross between a croak and a squeak, escaped before his mouth closed again. Presently a firm hand locked down onto my shoulder and roughly yanked me back a few feet from Ciel. I managed to suppress a growl. _Dammit Sebastian, I'm not going to attack your precious master. Go back to the bloody corner where you belong. _Even though I had been jerked backwards and I could feel Sebastian's red eyes boring into the back of my skull, I didn't drop my gaze on Ciel.

"Sebastian, leave her be," said Ciel, evidently grateful to have an opportunity to shy away from the power of my scrutiny. The butler opened his mouth as if to object, but Ciel shot him an authoritative look and the butler complied. He released his hold on my shoulder and backed away to where he had stood before, tail between his legs. Even as he did so he kept those narrowed red eyes on me.

Finally the earl had regained his composure. He took a deep, somewhat shaky breath and looked up at me. "I have made up my mind. Ophelia Malory, Mathias Keane, I will accept your offer…"

_Excellent, Phantomhive, you made the right choice-_

"… on one condition."

_-Shit._

I felt myself bristle at his sentence. _What do you have up your sleeve…? _"And what would that 'one condition' be?" I asked slowly.

Now Ciel rose from his chair. His knees buckled slightly as he did so, but he picked up his cane, which was propped up against the chair, and used it to steady himself. "You and your butler will stay in this mansion as our guests until we have completed the deal." Sebastian's eyes widened and he snapped his gaze towards Ciel, who ignored him. "Since we will be working together quite closely, it seems appropriate that you live here as well." Ciel straightened up now, his expression stronger. "As head of this house, that is my final word. No exceptions."

I certainly hadn't been expecting that response from him; quite frankly I don't think anyone in the room had. Of course, I wasn't going to let it trip me up any. "I accept," I said firmly. I then turned to Mathias, who, like the butler opposite him, seemed dumbfounded by the plot twist. "Well, since it appears we will be living here for the time being, let's go bring what few belongings we have in from the carriage," I told him.

He nodded. "But of course, my lady." With that, I promptly walked over to my butler's side and we turned to leave the room.

"Wait just a moment," Ciel said.

I turned back to face him, eyebrows raised. He opened his mouth to say something, presently forgot whatever it was he was going to say and shut his mouth, and then reopened it again. "At least let Mey-Rin show you to a room first," he hastily blurted out.

The maid, who had done nothing over the course of the discussion but make lovey faces at Mathias, presently snapped to attention. "Right away, Young Master, sir!" She shouted, jumping to her feet and scurrying over to us. "I'll make sure to give you the best room in the house," she declared as she swept out of the room and into the hall, already planning out the perfect place for us. Mathias and I followed suit, and once we were past the doorway and well out of earshot my butler leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"You certainly went to town on him, my lady," he said with a low chuckle. "At the end there you had him fidgeting so much I nearly expected the poor fellow was going to wet his trousers."

I smirked and whispered back, "your prosthetic limb and squat arm probably didn't help much either." And with those words, for the first time since we had arrived at the Phantomhive manor, Mathias truly smiled, a sinister visage that caused the flecks swimming across his eyes to glimmer darkly. At the sight of the familiar expression I couldn't help but smile as well. _There's the smile that I know. Ah, yes, it's good to have you back._

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"Young Master, just what exactly are you planning?"

Ciel, who had been standing in the same spot since Ophelia and her butler had left just moments ago, slowly turned to face Sebastian, a thousand thoughts colliding in his mind every second. Ciel saw that Sebastian was trying his hardest to disguise a look of pure distaste but just couldn't manage to do so. The butler's jaw was clenched so tightly that a vein was protruding from his forehead, pulsating rapidly. Ciel mentally groaned. _Great, now I've pissed him off. _

Ciel straightened up and looked his butler right in the eyes, pushing the maelstrom of thoughts aside and focusing on the current situation. "Don't think that I am doing this merely as a way to torture you, Sebastian. I am perfectly aware that it is not her place to discover who murdered my parents, as that is your job, but I know exactly what I am doing. It has become obvious since the very first moment that I laid eyes on that carriage that that girl and whoever her butler may be are extremely powerful individuals that threaten my authority as the head of this household. If I were to have refused her deal and turned them both away, there's no telling what such power could accomplish unsupervised. Though that Malory may be tough, strong-willed, and compelling, this house is ultimately unfamiliar territory that she has walked into, unfamiliar territory that _I _rule." Ciel felt a smile rise to his lips as he continued. "So long as she and Mr. Keane stay here under this roof, under our direct supervision, they are powerless."

Sebastian sighed. "As always, you are thinking one step ahead, Young Master. While I understand your reasoning, I. . . still cannot bring myself to support you in this instance." The floor seemed to fall out from underneath Ciel, and he felt as if someone had stabbed him straight through the heart. _Did he just… give up on me? _Sebastian lowered his head, ashamed to have admitted such words to his precious _bocchan_ but refusing to withdraw them nonetheless. "It's just. . . that Mathias Keane. . . I simply do not trust him."

Now Ciel took the opportunity to ask the question that had come to mind earlier, when he and Sebastian had first discovered the carriage. "Well, why is that?" Ciel snapped, vexed by Sebastian's rejection. "Why in the bloody hell does that man reduce you to nothing more than a growling mutt? It's been made extremely clear over the course of the day that you have a past with Mr. Keane, so tell me _right bloody now _what you know about him that is so abhorring!" Ciel slammed his cane down, producing a muffled thump from the rug upon which he stood.

Sebastian looked up to face his young master, pain evident in his red eyes. "That's exactly the thing, _bocchan_…" he said quietly. "I _don't _know much of anything about Mathias Keane."

Ciel nearly fell forward onto the rug. "_WHAT?!"_

"Allow me to explain," said Sebastian somewhat hurriedly, trying to prevent a rage from Ciel. Once the young earl had calmed down, Sebastian continued. "No one knows anything about Mathias Keane. He mysteriously appeared one day amongst the ranks of divine entities without warning and without explanation. He never spoke about his previous affairs and his past is thus cloaked in mystery to this day. He is truly an enigma." Sebastian's eyes seemed to drift off to someplace far away then, recalling fragments from the past. "While I may not know his backstory, I do know one thing for certain. There are numerous secrets swirling about Mr. Keane; it's been rumored that he is not always dependable, and that something bad always happens whenever he forms a contract with a human." Ciel felt the ever-present knot in his stomach start to tighten up again.

"No one ever dared to ask Keane if the rumors were true, for many of us feared what his response would be," Sebastian continued. "That is, except for one particularly cocky fellow, whose name eludes me. This fellow finally confronted Mr. Keane and vocalized the thoughts of the rest of us who had been too proud or too timid to ask ourselves. Of course, Keane vigorously denied the accusation and it wasn't long before a fight broke out. I was there to witness it, and it was a long, bitter struggle. Keane managed to come out victorious, but in the process he had suffered severe damage to his retinas and he had lost a portion of his arm. After the fight he withdrew himself from our demonic society and failed to show his face again. That one fight was the only real contact that I had with the man… until now." Sebastian seemed to come out of his recollection and focused again on Ciel. "It is not just the rumors that have me convinced that he is untrustworthy either, _bocchan_, it is how his body has failed to recover that has me suspicious as well." When Sebastian noticed the confused look on his master's face, he proceeded to explain.

"The rules of our contract state that I cannot leave you until I have helped you to complete your task; in other words, I cannot die. That is why whenever I have been injured in order to protect you, no matter how severe the wounds, I always heal. That rule applies to all demons. After Keane retreated into hiding bloodied and bruised, I assumed that he would be recovered in no time and reappear amongst the ranks. However, so many centuries after that fight, Mr. Keane is still nearly blind and his arm is nothing more than a rotted stump even to this day. When a demonic entity who has the automatic capability to regenerate flesh and blood still wears battle scars of the past, that in itself is enough to make one suspect the authenticity of such a character," Sebastian finished. "Does that satisfy your question, my lord?"

Ciel blinked slowly, processing all of this new information with a newfound sense of understanding. "I recognize your reasons for being wary of this man, and I apologize for being so cross with you before hearing your end of it." Ciel looked up at Sebastian now. "Just, Sebastian, promise me one thing."

"But of course, my lord. What is it that you desire?"

"Do you recall the day of Madame Red's funeral, Sebastian? That day, after we paid our respects to the final of the Jack the Ripper victims, I asked you to promise me to be the one man in this world that will not deceive me." Ciel lowered his head, recalling some of the more bitter moments of that day. "I cannot have you backing out on that, especially not now. Life in this house is going to get far more complicated than it has ever been and I need your support, even if you don't necessarily agree with my decision." Ciel looked back up to Sebastian. "You need to stay with me, Sebastian. In a world full of traitors and liars you are all that I have left. Please, don't give up on me now."

Sebastian's eyes widened slightly at the kindness in Ciel's tone. Then the butler closed his eyes, crossed his hand over his heart, and got down on his knee, bowing before his young master. "Yes, My Lord, you have my word. I will remain by your side no matter what decisions you choose to make until the end. That is a promise."

"Good," Ciel said, now feeling reassured as his butler stood back up. "Now, if you could please let me be, Sebastian; I need some time to think over all of this."

Sebastian smiled at his master. "But of course, my lord. Besides, I have to start planning out tonight's supper; we have two extra mouths to feed now, after all. Let me know if you need anything else." And with that, Sebastian exited the room, shutting the door gently behind him.

Once Sebastian had gone, Ciel collapsed into his chair and ran a hand through his blue-grey hair. '_Some time to think…' what an understatement. _Ciel lifted his gaze to the window on the far side of the room. Outside, the world was going on about its business, completely unaware and unaffected by the events that had taken place inside the manor. _If only I could get away. . . leisure trips into town suddenly don't sound so bad now. _Ciel fell back against the chair and closed his eyes, letting the cool darkness envelop him.

She had been so close. In the darkness behind his closed eyelids Ciel could see her perfectly as she had been not long before, those pale green eyes burning with a passion. She had completely invaded his personal space and yet she was unfazed by it, completely unfazed as she had placed her petite little body over top of his and put her face so close to his own. Her forehead had nearly bumped into his and their lips had been only a moment away from colliding into each other. Her perfume, intoxicatingly sweet, had snaked its way up through his nose and laced itself permanently into his senses, and yet, there had been no scent of fear mixed in with it. She had captured his personality exactly with every line, wrapped him around her finger with every word she spoke and had pinned him beneath her with the power that she held, showing no signs of weakness from beginning to end. He had fallen prey to her, something that Ciel had never done before. _But why? Why in the hell did she affect me so? _Ciel opened his eyes again and pressed one hand to his now throbbing forehead as he recalled one particular line she had spoke:

'**I**

**Never**

**Lose.'**

Ciel shuddered as her silky tone echoed through his mind. He realized that he could not answer his own question, which frustrated him further but he couldn't do anything about it. "Whatever are you planning, miss Malory…?" Ciel said quietly to himself.

He looked down at his hands in his lap and the blue ring upon his finger, and he felt his breath catch in his throat. The reflection that peered back up at him was not that of a strong-willed household heir, but that of a terrified child who had absolutely no idea what to do.

* * *

**And the deal has been made! Looks like Ophelia, Mathias, and the secrets swirling around them both are here to stay. How will this hectic day in the Phantomhive manor progress? Guess you'll have to read the next chapter to find out... ;)**

**I have written about 90% of the next chapter as of tonight, and I plan to finish it tomorrow and have it online in a matter of days! Don't worry; I do not plan to go so long without updating any time soon. :)**

**Until then, I bid thee farewell.**

**-MellowPaper**


	4. III

**Hey, everyone. I would like to take some time to apologize for another late chapter (uggggggh). I had this whole thing planned out a lot earlier, but thanks to some kids who decided to go to school with strep throat, I got their illness and became quite sick. In fact I still am sick, but fortunately I'm doing well enough to hop onto the good ol' interwebs and post my chapter! Hopefully I will be 100% better in a day or so. Well anyways, I'm back.**

**Before we get to the next chapter I just want to thank everyone who has taken the time to review my story. I'm getting lots of feedback (which I never expected in a million years) and the more feedback, the better I improve my writing, so thank you to all who have reviewed so far! Remember, readers, if you ever see anything where I could use some improvement with my story or see some incorrect details, please, don't be afraid to let me know! I'm trying to make stories that people enjoy reading, so I love advice! :)**

**Also, thanks to everyone who has stuck with my story from the very first chapter. I honestly wasn't sure how people would respond to my work, and I am very glad that I decided to post my story. Thanks for everything! :)**

**Okay so now that all of that is out of the way, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

"What do you think of your new accommodations, my lady?"

I turned to look about the room that Mey-Rin had chosen for me to stay in. "It's certainly spacious," I said to Mathias as I looked around. "Much better than those other battered hotel rooms that we've been in before." Mathias nodded his head in agreement. As my previous home had been burned down to nothing, Mathias and I had spent our time moving from place to place as we tried to discover the truth about my family, never staying in one place for too long. Hotels had been the common place of rest as we traveled from town to town, and though they had been acceptable for brief stays they weren't always the most desirable places to occupy nonetheless. But this room put all of those previous lodgings to shame. It was a large room, with slanted ceilings and a small crystalline chandelier hanging at the point where the sections met. The walls were painted a basic cream color, warm and inviting, with some elaborate oil paintings hanging upon them. One large window stretched across the back wall. The floor was a cool dark brown wood with a large oval ornate rug spread across it. Inside the room was a set of fine cherry wood furniture; a dresser, a nightstand with a washbasin made of the finest porcelain, an armoire which now contained what little clothing I had, a window seat and two small chairs, and a massive four-poster king-sized bed with a canopy. Attached to the room was a quaint but pleasant lavatory, all my own. Everything added up to paint a lovely still life of luxury comparable to what I had once had. It was certainly fit for anyone of higher blood; it was certainly fit for _me. _"It's a great space," I decided then. "I am quite pleased with it."

Mathias smiled at me. "I am glad that you like it, my lady," he said with lightness to his voice that I rarely heard. "I must say that I feel the same about my own room." He tilted his head in the direction of the hall. Mey-Rin had given my butler the room directly across the way, which was furnished in the same style as my own.

I nodded. "The Phantomhives seem to know a thing or two about interior design, eh?" I asked Mathias.

"I would say so," my butler said slowly. His dark eyes flickered down to the floor, the little specks dancing across his pupils. I could tell he was still thinking about Sebastian, which frustrated me. After all, my butler was certainly not any lesser than the other man, even though he may have had some injuries that Sebastian did not. Mathias had been used to the fake limb and the blurred vision by this point, and he had adapted in such a way to both that neither one had any power over him. At least, until now. I felt some anger rise up in my stomach towards Sebastian for making my impaired butler succumb to his own self-consciousness.

"He's an ass," I said to Mathias. My butler snapped to attention and looked down at me with surprise. "Don't forget that you have abilities that no one else has," I said with a grin as I stepped up next to him. "You don't need that lousy rat, he's not worth it," I finished. Mathias did not say a word in response but he did smile at me, a sweet gesture that made me feel better. _I love it when he smiles like that, it makes me feel… safe. As if nothing can harm me again. _I smiled back, got closer to him, and mussed with his jacket sleeve for the second time today, quirking up my eyebrows as I did so. Mathias just made a "hmph" noise and fixed it again, shaking his head at me. _Well, I think I've cheered him up-_

"Miss Malory, Mister Keane?"

Both Mathias and I turned to face the source of the voice, thus ending the little moment. The gardener whom I had seen outside earlier making a mess of the bushes- I believe his name was Finny or something like that?- was standing in the doorway to my room. He smiled at me and my butler warmly, and I couldn't help but find him to be a charming young man.

"I bring a message from the Young Master. Dinner is waiting for both of you."

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The dining room was quite a spectacular sight, in my opinion. It was massive and possessed the grandeur of some old wealth from civilizations past. I was seated at one end of the rather long dining table with Mathias next to me, an empty plate in front of him, with Ciel on the other end, sitting alone. Sebastian stood off to the side of the table, on Ciel's end, but he ate nothing. The meal prepared was certainly quite excellent: roasted duck coated in some sort of creamy puree with a side of freshly broiled vegetables. A sprinkling of herbs covered the meal and sealed in the flavor. I had to admit, even though I was not a fan of Sebastian's by any means, he was quite the good cook. I swallowed my mouthful of food and took a drink of water. As I did so my gaze flickered to Ciel. He was behaving in the same fashion, focusing mainly on the meal so as to avoid any conversation with me. Not that I cared about speaking to him; it's not like there was much that I could have said anyways. None of us had spoken, now that I thought about it; Sebastian had only pointed out where we were to sit but other than that no words had been exchanged. Mathias, as there was no longer any food for him to preoccupy himself with, was indiscreetly shooting daggers at Sebastian, who was looking back and forth from his master to him. The tense feeling earlier felt in the sitting room was again present; I swore that I could see the little bolts of indignation shooting across the table from butler to butler. It was rather annoying. _Seriously, can't you two give it a rest for at least dinner? _ I stabbed my fork through a piece of squash with such force that the metal emerged at the other end and clattered into the plate. Ciel lifted his blue eye to look at me. I hastily bit off of the squash without meeting his gaze. _So much for good table manners, Ophelia, nice job._

"Did you hear that?" Sebastian asked suddenly. I wanted to throw a piece of potato at his head before I realized that he was not referring to me, but to something else. His ears seemed perked at something that only he could hear. Ciel started to ask his butler what the problem was, but Sebastian shushed him. "Listen," the butler insisted. I sat still and tried to pick up any tiny sounds that could have gotten Sebastian's attention. No one breathed, and it was perfectly silent, and then finally we all heard it: the soft _psh_ing of something walking across the rug below the table.

In a flash Sebastian was under the table in search of the source of the noise. I felt a smile rise to my lips, as I was fairly certain as to what he was going to find. When Sebastian let out a little "oh!" of surprise I knew that I was right.

Sebastian presently reappeared from under the table, with an extremely merry look on his face. In his arms was an extremely fat, extremely stocky cat. It was a black cat, with white and dark grey spots across its ears, back, and stubby tail. It had a tiny little button nose and mouth, with massive white whiskers. Its eyes were two large yellow perfectly round circles, which blinked in confusion. All in all, the animal did not look anything like a real cat; it more looked like a child's stuffed toy come to life. Sebastian beamed quite like a child clutching his favorite toy to his chest, and I couldn't help but softly laugh. _So, the all-mighty butler Michaelis has a soft spot for felines? _I didn't know why that was so humorous to me but it just was.

Ciel stared at the animal. "The hell?" he simply stated.

Sebastian grinned gleefully. "Isn't he adorable, _bocchan_? He has such a silky coat!" Sebastian lifted the cat up to his face so that he was nose-to-nose with it. "Can we keep it, my lord?"

I nearly burst out laughing then. _Good God, he sounds like a child. _Ciel opened his mouth to say something, but before he could the cat let out a large growl. Its two black eyes morphed into that of an angry chibified cat and it swiped angrily at Sebastian's face with its claws, hissing like mad. Sebastian dropped the cat in surprise, and it landed on the back of Ciel's chair with such balance that seemed impossible from an animal of that size. It jumped off of the back of the chair, flew over Ciel's head, and landed on the table, where it promptly took a large chunk of duck off of the earl's plate.

"Hey!" Ciel said in protest. He lifted a hand as if to smack the thieving animal, but it gave him such a death stare that he recoiled. The cat then swallowed the duck in one large gulp and waddled across the table to me. Instead of taking some of my food, the cat plunked down next to me, purring rather loudly. I lifted one hand to stroke its fluffy backside.

"Phantomhive, Michaelis, meet my cat, Gindeo, aka Gin for short."

"_Your _cat?" said Ciel incredulously. Sebastian said nothing but stared at the cat with longing, one hand reaching towards the ball of fuzzy fat. I guess he wasn't used to his favorite animal trying to slice up his face.

I nodded. "Gin has been traveling with Mathias and I for a few months now," I explained. As I said this, the portly animal had climbed onto my shoulder and was standing on his hind legs, batting at the bird skull on my bow with one tiny paw. "He's a bit of an explorer, so that explains why you haven't seen him; he's especially flighty after hours of riding in a carriage. When Mathias and I first found him he was a scraggly little stray that had missed quite a few meals, but we took care of that," I said with a chuckle. I reached over and patted the cat's large stomach.

Ciel just stared. "Don't worry," I added, "he won't cause you any trouble; he's very well-behaved." Sebastian opened his mouth to protest that statement but Gin glared daggers at him again, shutting him up.

Ciel blinked, and then shook his head. "Seeing as you are our guests, I suppose I can't very well throw your cat out… just make sure he stays out of trouble."

I nodded. "Don't you worry your little wealthy head," I said with a hint of cynicism. I swallowed the last piece of duck on my plate and stood up, transferring Gin from my shoulder to my arms as I did so. "I think Mathias and I will excuse ourselves for the night," I said. Mathias got up from his seat and stood next to me. I turned to face Sebastian then. "The food was lovely," I told him.

Sebastian just gave a little nod. "Anything for guests of the Young Master," he said. For the first time tonight his smile and tone were both genuine, but his red eyes were still glimmering in Mathias's general direction all the same. _Cheeky bastard. _After I nodded my thanks one final time, Mathias, Gin and I left the dining room, leaving behind plenty of food for thought.

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"Do you need anything else tonight, my lady?"

My butler had prepared a bath for me, the tub filled with warm water and laden with bubbles. I didn't need him to clean me up, so I shook my head. "I can take it from here," I told him.

Mathias gave me a little nod and a smile. "Well, then if that is all that you require, I'm going to turn myself in for the night. Sweet dreams, my lady." Mathias patted the top of my bun, which I had yet to take out, and then exited my room, shutting the door behind him.

I smiled briefly at the door after he had gone, and then I proceeded to get ready for the bath. I undid the bow and allowed my hair to tumble down in soft white-blonde waves around my shoulders. Setting the bow on the bedside table, I then slid out of my dress, the fabric _shush_ing as it tumbled down about my ankles. I padded across the wooden floor and into the lavatory towards the bubbly paradise that awaited me. I slowly got into the tub, feeling my skin tingle as the warm water came into contact with it. _Ahh, that feels great._ I completely submerged myself in the water, all of the stress of everyday life fading away as I became buried in the soapsuds.

...

Ciel Phantomhive hurriedly rushed down the hall, his mind racing.

It was completely ridiculous, all of it. He'd let that girl just waltz on in like she could run the place and hadn't been able to restrain her. It was stupid, just stupid. _She's just a girl; nothing but a pathetic, bratty little child who thinks that she can get whatever she wants simply by opening her mouth._

_You _did _let her get what she wanted, you know_, a voice inside his head reminded him.

Ciel grimaced and shoved his nagging conscience aside. He needed to get ahold of himself, to grow up. _You are acting foolish, Ciel. You are most certainly _not _acting like the head of a household heir should. You can't just let all that you've worked for be ripped away from you_.

Ciel pushed through the door to his bedroom. What he needed was a wake-up call, something to snap him out of this bumbling stupor. Like cold water. _Maybe a hefty splash to the face will put things back into perspective_. Ciel presently walked into the lavatory, his mind made up. The minute he set foot through its door a wave of heat blasted him, along with a sickly sweet smell that made Ciel wrinkle his nose. _Wait a minute... that doesn't smell like any soap _I _would use... _Ciel looked up and fully acknowledged his surroundings. What he saw made his stomach jolt.

_Oh God no._

Ciel had walked into the wrong room. He had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he hadn't realized it until now, when he was already in far too deep: the room of Ophelia Malory herself.

Ophelia had her back to Ciel, facing the draining bathtub, and she was adjusting a towel around her tiny frame. Her white-blonde hair was pulled aside and for the first time, the mark of her Faustian contract was visible on the back of her neck. Ciel recalled her earlier attire, the frilly Gothic gown with the unnaturally placed tall stand-up collar. _So she really does have a contract like I do... _even though Ciel had never doubted that Ophelia and Mathias shared such a bond, the very sight of the large blackened mark seemed to fully convince him that it was so.

Not only that, Ophelia was so... _thin. _Ciel had always noticed the girl's petite build, but now, without the oversized petticoat skirts and the bulky leather boots he could really see just how extreme it was. Her legs were two spindly sticks with a thin layer of pale skin tightly stretched across them and her shoulder bones and spine were clearly pronounced, pushing so severely against her skin that they looked ready to tear through. Ciel found it to be a rather gross sight; if he had not known Ophelia he would have presumed the girl to be a starving peasant living off of street scraps based off of how she looked. He had to admit, she looked extremely vulnerable this way, and also fragile; one incorrect move and that little form would shatter into pieces.

Ciel finally snapped back into focus and realized again that he had barged into the girl's room. _I need to get out of here. _Ciel's eyes flicked again onto Ophelia, who had not turned around or showed any signs of hearing the earl come in. _Perhaps she didn't hear me.. I'll just let myself out quietly. _Ciel began to slowly back away, towards the doorway.

"The fuck are you doing?" asked Ophelia without turning around.

Ciel bristled up. _So she did hear me after all... I guess I should have been expecting that. Better explain myself before she writes me off as some sort of pervert. _Ciel turned back around to face the tiny British girl, who still had her back to him. "I sincerely apologize, miss Malory... I was lost in thought and wandered into your room on accident. I honestly did not mean to and I assure that it will not happen again," Ciel hurriedly finished, just wanting to leave the room.

Now Ophelia turned around. She was grasping her towel in two fistfuls and held it aloft below her breast line, but her hair fell in such a way that modesty was retained. Ciel noticed that her hair, now that it wasn't pulled back, was exceptionally long; it stopped about halfway down her thighs. Ophelia didn't say a word to Ciel, she just looked at him with those massive green eyes. Ciel responded to her in the same way, as he was unsure of what to say himself, and he regarded Ophelia with a sort of fascination. The thick black and grey paint that had earlier adorned her eyes had been washed away, leaving a very ordinary-looking girl in its place. Without the harsh neutral tones she seemed so much more... _real_. Ciel couldn't help but think that he preferred her without the makeup slopped all over her face, makeup that made her look far older than her age. Now he could really focus on the sharp cheekbones and the ruddy cheeks, the choppy bangs plastered to the small forehead. Now, in this moment, she wasn't a threat or an invader, she was just a regular human being.

In this moment they were _both _regular human beings. In this moment, he wasn't the king of an inherited throne and she wasn't the medium of destruction trying to topple it. In this moment, he was just a boy and she was just a girl, a boy and a girl who were only just now truly meeting for the first time. There was nothing more and nothing less, just scattered glances and unsaid thoughts.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Ophelia broke the silence. "Phantomhive...?" she said slowly. Her voice wavered as the last syllable escaped her lips and Ciel felt himself straighten up. The way that she had spoken his name now was so much softer than all times previous, and he had no idea what she would possibly say next.

_Is there perhaps... a heart in there beneath all that hatred?_

Whatever tenderness had been present in Ophelia's tone was destroyed forever with her next sentence. Her eyes narrowed and the delicate face had twisted itself into the cold, unforgiving expression that had been present earlier in the day. "Get. Out." Ophelia spat out the two words with such a tenacity that Ciel knew whatever vulnerable side of her he had just seen would never again reveal itself to him.

Ciel turned and quickly exited the room without another word. He shut both doors behind him and maneuvered down the halls until he found a vacant lavatory. Once he had shut the lavatory door behind him he exhaled heavily. _What on earth had happened back there? Ophelia had been so... different than before. _Ciel recalled those huge green eyes and he presently scolded himself. _You're doing it again, Ciel. You're letting that girl get to you. It doesn't matter if she appeared vulnerable then, because overall you know what she really is. _

Ciel glanced back up to the bathroom mirror and studied his reflection. Physically he looked the same as he had always been, but Ciel could still see the doubt lingering in the background of his gaze. The sight of it made his insides seethe._  
_

He was done with this. There would be no more weakness, no more anxiety. He was tired of being some timid little child who couldn't seem to get a grip on things. It was over.

_I do not lose often, and I most certainly am not going to start now._

Ciel gathered up some cold water in his hands from the faucet and splashed it across his face. The deliciously cool water ran in rivulets down his face and neck and seemed to flood his senses with its arctic quality. When the young earl opened his eye again, a strict, proud, revenge-craving young man peered back at him, mimicking the smirk that had risen to his lips. The Queen's Guard Dog was really and truly back, and it was most certainly a relief to him. Ciel swiped the last of the droplets off of his face with a cloth and exited the room. _Yes, it was certainly nice to be back. I feel that I have a renewed sense of power now._

The young earl made his way down the dark, candle-lit halls to his room, where he promptly prepared himself for bed. Normally Ciel would have called upon Sebastian at about this hour, and his butler would have bathed him and dressed him for sleep, but tonight the last thing Ciel wanted to do was explain to his butler all that had just happened; Ciel still couldn't process most of it in the first place.

After removing his daytime attire and hastily setting it aside in a somewhat disorderly pile, Ciel yanked on his night shirt and climbed into his bed, pulling the covers up around him as he undid the tie that held his patch to his head, which he removed and gently set on his bedside table. As the earl's head hit the cushy pillow he let out a long sigh of relief, allowing the cool darkness to submerge him into dreams.

_I just want this day to be over._

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So I had taken quite possibly the biggest risk of my entire life, managed to make it pay off by making a deal with a boy that I'd always known was dangerous but had done it anyway, was now a guest in that boy's home, and to top it all off that same boy had nearly seen me in the nude.

_What. A. Day_.

I sat at my nightstand, now clothed in a simple white nightgown, and dabbed at my face with a washcloth. Some black makeup smudges lingered around the corners of my eyes, too stubborn to have come off in the bath. As I continued to rub at the spots with the little cloth (which was only smearing the black around, not really lifting it any), my mind began to wander to a time about a half hour previous.

He had so much more than I did in every category. I had always known this, and yet, it had never really struck home until now. I'd heard all of the stories about the earl, and believe me there were plenty. Stories of a small but strong-willed young man who could get to the bottom of any crime and leave the Scotland Yard completely baffled. Stories of the boy with the incredibly talented butler, who defied all logic by escaping death numerous times and was a natural at any task he undertook, perfect in every way. And most importantly, stories of one boy who had lost everything and had risen from the ashes of his ruined past to become a new person; a new person who had it all.

That was where we were different. While everything that had ever been mine had been stolen away, never to return, Ciel Phantomhive had gotten _everything _back, and then some. His mansion was rebuilt to a splendor far surpassing the original and though his parents were gone, the earl had received a new family of sorts: the cute but clumsy gardener, the ditzy, glasses-wearing maid, the blond cook with a fondness for flamethrowers, and the elderly steward always equipped with a cup of tea. Sure, it wasn't exactly the typical bunch, but at least he had them.

I looked down at my lap in silence. I had _never _had anything like them, even before the fire. Growing up, it had just been my father, my mother, and I, no servants, no tutors, no gardeners, nothing. It wasn't that our family could not afford such help, they just preferred to handle things themselves. Very proud people, my parents had been. Of course, one would think that since there were no servants running around that my parents could devote all of their time to me, right? Wrong. My father was always away on "business" and would be gone for weeks, perhaps even months, at a time, and my mother was also disappearing all the time, leaving me to fend for myself. The only company I had was our one old cook, Juniper, who had passed away about a year before the fire happened. She had been the one person that had always been around even when my parents were not, and I will admit that there are some things I told that pot-bellied old Irishwoman that I had never told my own parents. After she had gone I was truly by myself.

That is, until Mathias had come around. I lifted my head back up to the mirror again and continued to dab at my eyes, which was quickly proving to be hopeless. I sighed, but not just because of the smeared makeup. Even though I would never dare to admit it, I knew Mathias was in no way comparable to Sebastian. That tall, dark and handsome butler from Hell was so far different from my own butler that it was not even funny. That butler had far more power in one white-gloved finger than Mathias possessed in his entire body. I'm sure at one point Mathias's strength had been comparable, but now, being nearly blind and missing a limb, he didn't stand a chance. It was so frustrating to me. _How could that Phantomhive be so similar to me and yet be so far better off? How is it that he has everything that I've never had, and never will have? And when I have one thing that he does, his version just_ has _to be about a thousand times more brilliant. __I can't stand it!_

I sighed again. I had always known that the Phantomhive boy would be a tough one, but this... this was proving to be far more complicated than I ever imagined. I had planned out every move for today's earlier meeting with such careful calculations because I knew my success depended on a flawless delivery. One wrong move, and it would all topple to the floor and everything would have been lost. I had been able to give that flawless delivery then, but I questioned how many more times I could behave in such a manner. That one brief and accidental encounter in the lavatory had nearly sent me reeling as is. For the first time in my life, I didn't know how much more I could take.

That revelation made my stomach squirm about, producing horrid gurgling noises. _Wait one bloody minute: did I just admit defeat? Oh no. Hell no. _I presently felt my roiling stomach harden along with my gaze.

_Do you know who you are? You are a Malory, Ophelia. You come from a long line of powerful, proud individuals who made their claim on the world through force, not by curling up in a corner and hiding. While everyone in your family may be gone, you know that if they were alive today they would all be extremely disappointed in your behavior. You are not acting like a Malory, you are acting like a scared little child, and for no reason at all. Yes, Ciel Phantomhive may be your strongest opponent yet, but he is not an impossible target. You are assuming he is, and you let your guard down when he came across you in the lavatory. If you continue to do so, let that visage down for one more moment, you really _will _be nothing more than a pathetic, scared coward of a child._

I gritted my teeth. I was not a pathetic, scared, childish coward. I was _not _a weakling. Mathias and I _were _strong, and we _could _compare with Ciel and Sebastian. And most importantly, I was most certainly _NOT _going to give up; not on myself, not on my butler, and not on my plan. I had come so far in such a short amount of time. I wasn't going to drop all of it because of a hint of self-doubt.

_I never lose, and I most certainly am not going to start now._

I scooped my hands into the porcelain washbasin and filled them with warm water, which I splashed onto my face. The warm water tingled against my cold skin, running down my neck and chin in little erratic trails. The heat submerged through my skin and burned deep into my senses. When I opened my eyes I saw the familiar, proud, cold-hearted expression that rightfully belonged on my face. All of the black makeup had faded away and I was back.

_There, that's so much better._

I dabbed the water droplets off of my face and stood up. I crossed over to my bed and sat down on the edge of it, looking at one object in particular before turning in for the night. I had set my music box out on the table when Mathias and I had unpacked earlier, and I took some time now to get lost in its flawless surface. Yes, even though the box had horrid memories attached to it, I still had it with me. Why? Well, perhaps because I just couldn't seem to get rid of it. I had tried _everything _to get rid of the cursed thing, but oddly enough it always somehow managed to come back into my possession, no matter how crazy the attempt to dispose of it (apparently, the damn box is fire-proof, bullet-proof, AND insect-proof). I sighed as I looked down at the box. _Bet you were trying to tell me something by giving me this box, eh, Mum? Wish you could have lived long enough to explain it to me. _I glanced up and out of the window to the peaceful night sky, dotted with stars. _But now, you've got it easy. You get to sleep for all of eternity and leave _me _to handle everything. Thanks a lot, you and Father both._

I flopped back against my bed. Clearly it was time to go to sleep. I crawled under the covers and blew out the one candle that Mathias had lit for me earlier, which completely filled the room in darkness. _Ah, my favorite thing of all, pure, sweet, darkness. _I snuggled up underneath the cozy blankets and slowly began to drift off when I heard a soft _thump _against my covers. Clearly Gin wanted to join me. I yawned and shut my eyes as the fat cat curled up near my feet.

_I just want this day to be over._

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The door to Ciel Phantomhive's room slowly opened, and a tall figure stepped in, armed with a candelabra. The figure quietly padded over to the young earl's bedside, light from the candles flickering across Ciel's sleeping face. The figure frowned slightly.

_Why is it that the Young Master went to bed without consulting me first? __That is most certainly not like him at all. _Sebastian Michaelis studied his sleeping master with a hint of concern. He gently put one gloved hand to Ciel's forehead and moved some bluish-grey strands of hair out of the way. The boy did not stir, as he was already deep into sleep. Sebastian withdrew his hand and frowned again. "Well, he does not feel hot, so both a fever and sickness are out of the question.." he murmured softly so not to wake Ciel. _I suppose I will just have to speak to him in the morning, once he is rested. _Sebastian slowly backed away from his master's bedside after one more quick look and exited the room, gently shutting the door behind him.

Instead of turning in for the night himself, Sebastian padded down the halls until he came to another room, which he entered in the same fashion as before. Cautiously, Sebastian padded over to the bedside of the sleeping British girl who had barged in and changed everything. Little Ophelia Malory was peacefully asleep, her tiny doll face wearing not a look of anger or contempt but one with a serene, docile quality. Very much the opposite of her hellion self. At her feet, the massive cat appeared to be sleeping, but at Sebastian's presence one glowing yellow sliver popped open, as if to say, _I know you're here, I'm watching you. _The eye remained open for a moment then closed again, but it was obvious that the cat was still on guard duty.

Sebastian peered down at the sleeping face with a sad smile.

He had known the truth about her real self, and not just about her family life; he knew something about her that he knew not even _she _did. The minute he had looked into those eyes, seen that contemptuous smirk, he had known it for certain. Even now he could sense the aura about her.

Sebastian knew it wasn't his place to say. If she didn't know what she really was then there was no point. She had to realize her power for herself.

The butler slowly turned away from the young girl and exited the room, shutting the door behind him. "Someday, little Malory, you will come to respect me..." he whispered as he walked away down the hall.

As he walked, the butler blew out the candelabra in his hand, cloaking the rest of the house in darkness.

"...Someday far sooner than you think."

* * *

**Aaand the chapter comes to a chilling close. Looks like Sebastian knows all the secrets in this household... or does he? Guess we will have to see as the story continues... ;)**

**Don't forget to tell me what you think of this chapter! I realize that there wasn't a ton that happened, but not to worry: the next chapter will have action, mystery, and more characters! Gin included. :3 I just had to give Ophelia a pet, and yes, he has a weird name for a reason. Props to anyone who can figure it out as the story goes on... **

**So yeah, that is all for now. I am in the process of planning out all that's going to happen in the next chapter, which I hope to write soon ('course that all depends on when I recover from being sick... fingers crossed it's soon)! It'll be a good one, I can feel it.**

**Also, keep an eye out for... drumroll please... NEW fanfictions! Yes, I have been working on the first chapters to a couple of other stories and I expect that I will have one (or maybe more) of those chapters ready for publication in the near future! What kinds of fanfictions? Well, you'll have to stick around and find out. ;) **

**Okay so on that note, I'm going to go now. In the words of MC Mode (this isn't going to make sense unless you play the video game Style Savvy: Trendsetters), I love you and leave you! Always stay á la mode! xD**

**-MellowPaper**


	5. IV

**Dear me, I can't believe it's been a month without updates! I most certainly never expected or wanted this to happen; school has been throwing on the work. Trust me though, I hate leaving readers hanging for any reason and I promise to have the next update ready in no time, no matter how much work is thrown at me. For any of you who are reading my ROTG fan fiction as well, I assure you that the second chapter is indeed coming. I most certainly have not forgotten about it and I hope to have it up as soon as I possibly can! But anyways, back to _this_ fan fiction: to make up for being gone so long, this chapter is my longest yet (around 20something pages in Microsoft Word). I hope that it was well worth your wait and that you enjoy! Don't forget to review and offer any suggestions if you see it fit. :) **

* * *

I awoke to the sound of chirping birds and the feel of warm rays of sunlight poking through the window, tickling at my face. I yawned and sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. I'd most certainly slept well last night; it had been the best-and most-sleep that I'd gotten in quite a long time. _It's a good thing, too, because I'm going to need all of my energy for today; the first phases of my plan have to be implemented so that I stay on schedule. _I kicked the soft, downy covers off of me and climbed out of bed. The cold wooden floorboards beneath my feet seemed to completely snap me back into reality, the reality that I had work to do.

As I looked around my bedroom another reality slowly sunk in; I realized that I had slept in rather late. I didn't have a clock handy to confirm the exact time, but judging by the sun's position and the strength of its rays, it had to be around a quarter until noon. _Damn, I hadn't meant to be asleep _that _long… oh well, nothing to be done about that now; I guess I'll just have to work double to make up for lost time._

I padded across the floor to my armoire and opened it up. A few meager garments peered back at me from the wooden interior. I had a limited amount to choose from as I was often traveling and didn't have much space to store excess clothing, but after a bit of rummaging I was able to select a pale turquoise chiffon blouse with ruffles on the sleeves and collar, black sateen knickers that ballooned out, sheer black hose, and clunky lace-up wedge boots. After slipping out of my nightgown and into the clothes I'd picked out, I took a large oval-shaped box off of a low shelf in the armoire. From the box I retrieved the onyx thumb ring that I'd worn yesterday and another ring with a large square topaz, which I put on my pinky finger. I also took out a gold trident pendant, a novelty that I'd acquired from some overseas travels, and slipped it around my neck. Satisfied with my selection, I then sat down at my nightstand and ran a brush through my hair, abolishing some tangles. While I finished up with the hair and moved on to makeup, there was a soft knock on my door.

"Come in," I said while applying some silver powder to my eyelids.

The door slowly opened, revealing Mathias with a tray in his hands. "Good morning, my lady," he said with a small smile. "I took the liberty of preparing a fine breakfast for you."

I turned away from my work to look over the selection my butler had prepared. There were some small scones, puffy and lightly buttered, two pieces of toast coated with some berry preserves, and a glass of water. Just the right amount of food. "Thank you, Mathias. Just set it over on the window seat," I said, pointing one makeup brush in the direction of the desired furniture. Mathias complied and gently put the tray where I had instructed. The moment he set the food down, Gin shot straight up from his slumber on the bed, his yellow eyes three times their normal size and his nose sniffing feverishly. He presently stood up and waddled across the bed, making a beeline for my breakfast tray.

Mathias presently stepped in front of the rotund cat with a kindly smile on his face. "Now, now, that tray is for my young mistress. I have something _far _better for you." He procured some pieces of meat from his pocket and set them on the floor. Gin instantly pounced on the food and scarfed it down, swallowing the pieces whole. I chuckled. _He always acts as if he never gets enough to eat._

After watching my cat for a few more moments, I turned back to Mathias. "Braid my hair for me, would you?"

Mathias nodded. "But of course." He stepped behind my chair and took the ribbon that I offered to him, a striped emerald, aqua, and yellow satin number striped in such a way that mimicked a bonbon one might find in a glass jar in the window of a candy shop. He promptly got to work at braiding my hair, his silk gloves cold against the back of my neck as he moved the blond tresses into place.

"So did you sleep well?" He asked me.

I nodded slightly, so not to disrupt his braid work. "Quite, though perhaps a bit _too _well; it's around noon now, isn't it?"

"That would be correct."

I gritted my teeth. _Lovely. _"It was well worth it, believe me, but even so… a bit late in the day, even for my taste."

In the nightstand mirror I could see Mathias nod slightly. "Just be grateful that you're not the Phantomhive boy; I heard Sebastian go into his room and wake him up much earlier."

"Is that so?" I asked, eyebrows raised. Though Mathias did many things for me, one of the few rules that I had long since established was to never wake me up, unless under dire circumstances. I needed as many hours of sleep as possible to be alert for whatever awaited me the next day; I could never imagine being awoken at a fixed time each day, like Ciel. I suppose that was another way that the two of us were different.

"Indeed," Mathias stated as he tied the ribbon into a bow and stepped back from the nightstand. "Well, what do you think, my lady? Is your hair to your satisfaction?"

I stood up and flipped the braid over my shoulder so that I could see it. As always, Mathias had done an impeccable job with my hair. I never wore it loose except when going to bed, as it was extremely long and tended to get in the way. "It is, Mathias. You never cease to impress me," I said with a smile. "Now, I would like some time to eat my breakfast, so if you could leave me be for now that would be much appreciated. Once I eat I will go find Ciel and begin to discuss our plan of action."

Mathias nodded. "A fine decision, my lady. I shall leave you be." He bowed slightly before me and stepped away from my chair, out into the hall. "Let me know whenever you need anything else." He smiled at me as he pulled the door shut, leaving me alone. I walked over to the window seat and looked outside at the scrupulously trimmed lawns as I picked up a piece of toast. _Today, everything is going to change. I can feel it._

. . .

I padded down one of the many halls in the Phantomhive manor, my eyes flickering across every little detail. I had finished my breakfast around ten minutes ago and I had been looking around for Ciel ever since. I had assumed that he would be easy to find, but the young earl was nowhere to be seen, not in the halls, not in any of the sitting rooms, nowhere. It was starting to become quite bothersome. I tried to keep my mind off of that by looking at all of the decorations in the home. Yesterday had been so busy that I had not really taken in all of the furnishings of the manor, and now, upon further inspection, I could see that the entire manor was quite remarkable in its design. There were so many oil paintings and daedal furniture pieces that I couldn't process it all. It certainly was a beautiful home.

The sound of rattling dishes snapped me to attention. I saw a certain red-haired maid walking down the hall, coming towards me. She was humming some sort of melody that I had no name for and had a bit of a spring to her step. As she walked she was pushing a cart filled with stacked plates and silverware, which clattered loudly. She seemed completely immersed in some other world, unaware of my presence. I cleared my throat loudly and she finally looked up, her hair swinging about. When she saw me her face brightened up considerably and she stopped pushing the cart.

"Hello, Miss Malory!" Mey-Rin said jovially. "How was your first night? Did you sleep well?"

I nodded slowly. "Quite. You picked out excellent rooms," I said, my tone dry. She started to open her mouth, as if to gush about how everyone was just _so_ happy to have us here, which she had done multiple times yesterday, but I cut her off. I didn't need to hear any more nonsense; it was time to get to work. "I was wondering, Mey-Rin: do you know where Ciel is? I need to speak with him, but I cannot seem to find him anywhere."

"Oh! But of course! The Young Master is in his study, right down that hall." She turned and pointed down the hallway behind her, to nothing in particular. "He's actually got quite a lot to take care of today, which is great for him; our master has been quite bored, you see, nothing new going on for months now…" Mey-Rin was starting to babble, so I was about to space out a bit, but her next sentence made me completely focus. "…and he's finally gotten in a new case from Her Majesty! It's great I tell you!"

"A… case?" I asked, tilting my head to one side. I had known that Ciel was called "The Queen's Guard Dog," but I had never imagined that Her Majesty had actually _trusted _him to do something. I guess I really needed to stop underestimating him; unfortunately it was just so pleasing to do so.

Mey-Rin nodded. "Yes, indeed. And Ciel is personally discussing it with Sebastian now. They've already been chatting a while, so I'm guessing the two of them should be finished soon," she said.

I gave her a slight nod. "Thank you, Mey-Rin. I'll go talk with them now." I turned away from the maid and started walking down the hall in the direction of the study.

"Oh, wait! One last thing!" Mey-Rin shouted after me.

I stopped walking. "And that is….?" I askedwithout turning around.

"Well, uhm…." She started, her voice containing giggles in the undertones as she continued. "…Iwasjustcurioushowoldyourbutleristhat'sall," she blurted out so quickly that I almost did not understand her question.

I turned then to face the maid, whose face was bright pink and her eyes, though hidden behind those massive round spectacles, were clearly shining. "Oh, he is far too old for you," I said, a mirthless smile creeping into my lips. "No self-respecting man like him would ever dream of courting a child." And with that, I turned on my heel and proceeded down the hallway. I didn't care that I had probably hurt her feelings. I had better things to do.

…

It wasn't long until I had reached Ciel's study. The door to the room was partly ajar, and I could hear voices inside, though they were so subdued that I did not understand what was being said. I took a deep breath. I needed to find out what this case was, because anything that occupied Ciel's time would detract from my own plans with him. I straightened up and yanked the door completely open so that I could see inside.

The study retained the same splendor and elegance as the rest of the house in its intricate woodwork and furnishings. Ciel sat at the far end of the room at a massive desk that made him appear even smaller in comparison. Sebastian was standing to the side of the desk, leaning down towards Ciel as if whispering something to him, but once they both saw me, the butler straightened up and all conversations ended. Ciel's visible blue eye met my two green ones and I couldn't help but feel odd. I had not had any contact with him since last night's incident in the lavatory, and though I had long since recovered from it, I still had no idea how Ciel had taken it. After all, he had dashed out rather hurriedly. However, as I looked deeper into his eye, past the surface and penetrated the emotions below it, I found something cold and callous there. Clearly, _the_ Ciel Phantomhive was back.

"Miss Malory," Ciel addressed me with the same emotion that lay in his eyes. "I was not expecting you to arrive as… a_bruptly _as you just did, but it is actually good that you appeared at this moment." He paused then to take a sip from a teacup on his desk. "There is something that I need to discuss with you, something very important that has come up," he finished. Sebastian said nothing, but his red eyes glinted in the faint rays of sun that had crept through the window. Unsettling as usual, and ignored as usual. Ciel pointed one pale finger at a chair in front of his desk, and I nodded and sat down slowly, flicking my braid over my shoulder.

"What important business do you wish to discuss with me, Phantomhive?" I asked him.

Ciel leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. "I don't know how much you researched about me before coming here, Miss Malory, but in London I am known as the Queen's Guard Dog. Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, entrusts me to take care of the various wrongdoings and evildoers in England, no matter how big or small the task." He paused then, as if to see if I had a comment on his position, but when I offered him none he continued. "Now, for a while before you arrived, Her Majesty had not sent in a new case for me to take care of, and things were rather uninteresting for a time. That period of emptiness has now ended, as I was just sent in a new affair this morning." He gestured to an opened letter on the desk. "That case is what I wish to examine now."

I nodded slowly, taking in the information line by line. "What does Her Majesty want you to do, exactly?"

Ciel sat up in his chair and took another sip of tea. "Normally I would not disclose grievances from the Queen to a… guest, but considering our partnership I guess it cannot be helped in this case." _Yes, he's definitely back to his former self. Already throwing around the jabs. _"There have apparently been a string of break-ins in shops all throughout the streets of London. However, not every old storefront is being ransacked; only the ones with the highest-quality items are the victims of the crime." I nodded. That made sense. Ciel continued slowly, "however, there's even more to it than that; only the luxury shops whose owners have children are being attacked. Whoever is responsible for the robberies is stealing both the children of the shop owners as well as the expensive items in the shop, and is holding the children for ransom. Clearly, the responsible party thinks that these shop owners have a lot of money based off of the merchandise they carry, and hope to snatch up even more riches through blackmail. This case is not just important to me because Her Majesty sent it; my own Funtom Toy Company is at risk to attack from the guilty party as it is one of the most successful businesses currently in London," Ciel finished.

"I see," I replied. _Good God, he certainly has a lot on his plate. _I could not comprehend the fact that the Queen was expecting a thirteen-year-old boy to go after thieves, who probably were five times his size and could kill him in a heartbeat. Granted, Ciel wasn't just any thirteen-year-old boy, but it was still a surprise to me. "How exactly are you planning to find the responsible individual or individuals?"

"There have been a string of murders that correspond to the robberies," Ciel explained. "The person or persons who have been committing the crimes have killed several witnesses, as well as people in the shops at the time of the robberies. At least, that is the theory that Scotland Yard has procured."

I frowned. Why in the hell would the Queen entrust Ciel to take care of this when the Scotland Yard was already looking into it? "They're a bunch of useless fools," Ciel stated, as if reading my mind. "Scotland Yard is pretentious and think they can solve any case on their own, when in fact they don't even know if these robbers have killed anyone or not because they don't have enough evidence; apparently, whoever has killed them did it in such a way that no evidence was left behind as to their identity."

I nodded. "It would only make sense that the guilty person or persons do so, so that they don't get themselves caught. Though, just how _do_ you plan to find out whether or not the murders have a connection to the break-ins?"

"Sebastian and I happen to know a man," Ciel said, "who knows a thing or two about causes of death, to say the least. He goes by the name of Undertaker, and if there was ever anyone who would have any information on this case, it would be him."

"Undertaker…," I said slowly. That name… as unusual as it was, it seemed oddly familiar to me, but I couldn't possibly understand why. No matter that, it was a name that seemed to hold ominous power. I definitely needed to meet him. "I'm going with you two," I said, mind made up.

Sebastian's eyes flashed and Ciel coughed loudly, as if my words had physically travelled from my mouth down his throat and festered there, irritating him. "Miss Malory…" Ciel started, clearing his throat some. "This is no child's game. I have been taking care of cases like this for quite some time now, whereas _you _have no experience whatsoever. You would only get in the way and would more than likely get yourself killed."

His words were knives, slicing into my body with a vengeance, but I didn't let them suppress me. "While it may be true that I am no highly-respected pet of Her Majesty that gets new little chew toys to mess with every now and then," I snapped, "I _have _had some experience with these things. After the death of my family became a headline, many people wanted to seek me out. Kidnap me, do all kinds of horrible things. I learned how to protect against such people on my own even with Mathias to protect me. Believe me, Phantomhive, I know how to fight, and I can handle it." I stood up from my chair then and looked down at Ciel, who regarded me with the same level, one-eyed expression. "Furthermore, you and I made a deal, lest you forget, a deal to help me extract my revenge against whoever murdered my family. This case, though obviously important, takes time away from that, so therefore this is as much my business as it is yours." I paused and placed my hands against the desk, leaning towards the young earl with narrowed eyes. "It is evident that you don't want me here, but you agreed to my terms and so now you are stuck with me. You and I, as much as you don't want it, are a team, so you might as well take my assistance."

Sebastian's eyes smoldered and he looked about ready to yank me away from the desk, but Ciel shot him a look and the butler stayed where he was. Ciel looked back to me, his blue eye still cold. After a brief pause, he spoke. "As always, Malory, you know how to prove your point. I suppose one case wouldn't do any harm, as long as you stay behind Sebastian and I and don't do anything rash. After all, I am the Guard Dog, so that means you need to let me guard you," he said with a bit of a smirk to his voice.

"But of course," I said with the same tone that Ciel had used. "Have to let the _dog _do his job, after all, or what good is he?"

Ciel nodded, ignoring the contempt in my sentence. "Well, now that that's settled, I need to take care of a few more things before we leave. I would recommend preparing anything that you need before we depart."

"She will do nothing of the sort."

Both Ciel and I turned to look past the door and into the hall at the source of the voice. Mathias stood in the doorway, his expression dark. I frowned. _Had he been listening to us this whole time? And where the hell did he even come from, anyway? _Before I could really think it over, my butler came into the room, his eyes flashing.

"What are you trying to suggest, Keane?" Ciel asked, his expression and tone several degrees colder than when he had been speaking to me. _So apparently both master and butler hate him. Not surprising._

"I am saying," Mathias said slowly, as if trying to suppress some ravaging feelings, "that Miss Ophelia shall not be accompanying you to see this gentleman that you mentioned. That is an order."

Before Ciel could object to a butler giving him, the head of the house, an order, I got to Mathias first as I was completely appalled. "And why the bloody hell not?" I asked, turning away from the desk to face my butler. "Ciel and I need to work together from now on! We made a deal! How do you expect me to work with him if I am not given an opportunity to try?" I stamped my wedge heel into the rug below me, leaving a massive indentation in its surface. "And on top of that, I am the one who gives orders, not you-"

Before I could finish, Mathias was by my side, towering down over me. His prosthetic hand gripped my shoulder and he gave me such a terrible look I nearly balked. "You. Are. Not. Going." He whispered in my ear in a deep, frightening tone. Suddenly a flash of memories came back at his tone and I felt myself stiffen, my breath caught in my throat. _  
_

"I… understand, Mathias. Now let go of me," I whispered back slowly almost inaudibly. My butler complied and I turned to face Sebastian and Ciel, adjusting the sleeve of my top where Mathias had moved it. "Forget what I just said about joining you; the more that I think about it, it is not really my business to interfere in your plans with Her Majesty." I knew that that was a horribly weak excuse but I needed to get out of that room. Before either earl or butler could say anything, I said, "please excuse me, I have some things to take care of," and left the room, grabbing Mathias's sleeve and pulling him out after me (well, I didn't exactly pull him, he just followed me; I don't have that much arm strength). Mathias shut the study doors as we left. Once we were well enough away I released my hold on him.

"What was that for?" Mathias said, his tone suddenly back to normal as he fixed his crumpled jacket sleeve. "You didn't have to yank so hard-"

"What do you mean, 'what was that for?'" I snapped, cutting him off. "You just made a fool of yourself in front of Sebastian and the Earl by addressing me like that! You're not helping your image by acting in such a way!" I hissed.

Mathias sighed. "I realize that I came off a bit harsh a little too late, my lady, and I apologize deeply for that." When he saw I still wasn't buying it, he continued. "I only responded in the way that I did because I want to protect you. You don't know what it is that you're getting into."

"Oh?" I said coldly. "And why is that?"

Mathias flicked his bangs out of his eyes. "This… Undertaker that they are going to see is… not human," he replied. When he saw my surprised look he continued. "He is what is known as a shinigami, a grim reaper of sorts," Mathias explained. _A shinigami... I believe that I have heard of them, though I've never actually met one. "_Granted," my butler continued, "he is a shinigami that no longer practices, but he still is surrounded by things too dark and repulsive for you to be seeing. You may be growing up, but you don't deserve to be scarred any further than you already have been," he finished. He knelt down to face me, eye-to-eye. "Now," he said, his voice soft, "do you understand where I am coming from? The last thing I would want to be held responsible for is your destruction." He pushed a loose strand of hair out of my face, his eyes truly filled with hurt for how he had treated me. Looking into those nearly-blind eyes, I couldn't help but feel like accepting his apology. After all, without him, what did I have?

"Fine, you have been forgiven," I replied, "but don't think I'm going to let you off the hook that easy." I flicked him on the forehead with a smirk, knocking his bangs back into his eyes.

Mathias chuckled, blinking and sweeping the hair back into place. "I would expect nothing less, my lady," he said as he straightened back up. "I will be sure to make up for this horrid offense. I have to go into town today, so perhaps I will find something for you as well." He flashed me a courteous smile.

I stared at my butler in disbelief. "Wait, so _you _get to go into town and _I _don't?" I asked, frustrated.

Mathias looked pained**. **"I sincerely apologize that you cannot go with them, my lady, but again it's for your own safety. I am merely going into town to purchase some sort of cleaner for my arm. It's starting to rust up again," Mathias explained. He slowly rolled his sleeve back, so not to wrinkle it, and revealed his fake limb. Sure enough, a dark coppery residue was starting to tint its shiny metal.

I sighed. "I suppose there's no helping that. But when you go, you'd better bring something back for me."

He nodded. "But of course." He patted my head and stroked it some. "In the meantime, while everyone is out, you could always socialize with the other residents of the manor; there are certainly some interesting individuals here." I nodded. There was always that Finnian boy I could talk to, he seemed levelheaded enough. Mathias then straightened up. "Well, the sooner I take care of this issue with my arm, the better. I shall see you again soon, my lady." And with that, my butler turned and walked off down the hall, leaving me alone. I slumped against the wall and sighed, pushing my bangs out of my face.

_When is he ever going to stop treating me like an animal?_

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"You seem quiet, my Lord, is something on your mind?"

Ciel snapped out of his reverie and turned to look at his butler. "Oh, nothing, just lost in thought I suppose." The young earl and his butler were making their way through the streets of London towards the Undertaker's shop. Business was going by as usual in the city, and everyone there was focused on what they had to do but Ciel. He and Sebastian had arrived not long ago, and all along the way they had seen the ransacked shops, the shattered windows and boarded-up doors. And all along the way, Ciel had been thinking not about the case, but about a certain young girl whom he had spoken to in his office not even an hour ago. Ciel recalled how Mathias had taken her roughly by the shoulder and whispered something to her that had made her appear, for a split second, disturbed. Ciel couldn't understand why the butler had been so against her seeing the Undertaker, and why she had looked so vulnerable. It did not make sense to him, and he wondered what could have possibly happened in the past to have invoked such a reaction from the both of them.

Ciel realized that his butler was still eyeing him. "Honestly, Sebastian, I am fine," he replied. "I am just confused as to why Mathias did not want Miss Malory to join us, that's all." The young earl straightened up as he walked. "Even so, it's not my business or my concern to find out about their personal issues. We have a case to take care of, and we are going to take care of it, Ophelia or not."

Sebastian nodded. _He seems to be back to himself again, _the butler mused. _It's pleasing to see __the girl's attempts to break him failed. _"It is good to hear that you are ready to get back into the game, my Lord."

"What do you mean by that?" Ciel scoffed. "I never left the game to begin with!"

Sebastian chuckled to himself. "Oh, nothing, just a tease," he said, waving a hand as if to dismiss it all. "Well, in any case, we're here."

Ciel stopped and saw that Sebastian was right. The somber grey building stood waiting for them. He straightened up. "Well, let's not waste time," he said. "The sooner we talk to him, the sooner we can solve this case." Sebastian nodded, and the two went inside.

The shop's interior looked as it always had: dark, dreary, and lined with coffins. As soon as the door closed behind Ciel and Sebastian, the coffin nearest to them slowly creaked open, revealing the Undertaker himself. The man's pale, scarred face lit up at the sight of them and his mouth curved upward into a smile. "Ah, if it isn't the Earl and his butler; I thought that may be you two coming in," he said as he lifted himself out of the coffin.

Ciel nodded. "It is good to see you again, Undertaker. There is something Sebastian and I must discuss with you."

"Yes, yes, of course," the lean man replied as he flicked his long grey hair behind his back. "It has been so long since we last spoke, you know, it was rather lonesome; I only had the corpses to keep me company." Undertaker ran his fingertips longingly over the glossy surface of one of the coffins as he spoke. "Speaking of, I have several more new coffin options to choose from; would you like to see how one feels?" He patted his hand on another coffin close to the door, his expression gleeful.

Ciel suppressed a shudder. "Thank you for your… generous offer, Undertaker, but that is not what we came here for. We need some information regarding a string of murders that have been taking place at storefronts here in the city, so that we can solve a case for Her Majesty."

"Uggh. Victoria _again_? Why am I not surprised?" Undertaker plunked down on the edge of a coffin as if the name exhausted him. "All she ever does is pass the dirty work on to you, if you ask me. But I digress... well, if you want information, you know what it is I must have first," he said, his expression bright. "Give me a first-rate laugh, and then we'll talk."

Ciel turned to look at Sebastian, who nodded and walked over to the grey-haired shinigami. He knelt down next to Undertaker and whispered something in his ear. Undertaker presently let out an ear-splitting guffaw and shook so hard from it that he fell off of the coffin and onto the floor, roiling in his laughter.

"So… beautiful… how you can always impress me…" Undertaker said while wiping at his face with his long nails.

Sebastian smiled slightly and nodded. "A Phantomhive butler who can't do that much isn't worth his salt," he replied.

"So, Undertaker, what information do you have for us?" Ciel asked, cutting to the point.

"Ah, yes… right, of course." Undertaker slowly got to his feet, brushing some dirt off of his black clothes, and then sat down on the coffin's edge again. "The murders have not been specific to any one group, gender, race, or age; I have seen individuals of all types being sent in for preparation, so it's not like any one particular form of human being is being targeted. However, there is one thing I have noticed, one recurring thread connecting all of them together."

"Which is?" Ciel asked.

"Well, the deaths seem to come in groups, twos or threes, per day, and with each group of new corpses comes a new headline in the paper about another robbery in town. Scotland Yard believes that the murders are connected to the robberies, and they are correct. I know this because of one thing I have seen on the bodies of all of the victims, a mark of sorts. Somewhere on the body of each victim there are three triangles gouged down into the skin, all in a row; one facing up, the middle one facing down, and the third facing up again. The mark has typically been on the neck, but I have seen others with it on their arm, hand, and even one with it straight 'cross her forehead. Poor lass really looked horrible…" Undertaker began drifting off into some happy reminiscence of the bodily injury.

Ciel nodded, taking in the information. "How is it that you know these deaths correspond to the robberies?"

"Oh, it's simple, really," Undertaker replied. He reached into his pocket and fished out a tarnished silver ring, offering it out to the young earl. Ciel took it from him and studied it, turning it over in his hands so that it could catch what little light had penetrated into the place. It was a large, three-finger ring, and for each finger there was a corresponding large metal stud shaped like a triangle, arranged in the way that Undertaker had described. The metal was extremely sharp and had such wicked points on them that Ciel could easily picture the ring stabbing through human flesh and gouging out a fatal wound.

"Interesting," Ciel mused to himself.

Undertaker nodded. "Got that off a fellow who was brought in a few months ago, went by the name of Gilbert Gaffer. He was a member of a little-known crime organization here in London, little-known due to its secret nature. Gaffer had turned against the group and gone to the press, revealing key secrets about the society's motives and warned of future plans to attack the city. Shortly afterwards, he was found dead in an alley with triangle gouges all over his body, and the reporter he spoke to, some young intern, not known well, was also found dead at his home and his papers nowhere to be found. The story was never released, no one ever found out, and now that very plan that Gaffer warned about is being carried out as we speak. That is how I know," Undertaker finished.

Ciel nodded. "Thank you for the information, Undertaker," he said as he passed the silver ring back to the man. "I believe that is all we need from you, so we will get out of your way. There is just one more thing; do you have any notion as to where we could find a member of this society?"

Undertaker shook his head, the long grey braids swishing. "Unfortunately I cannot help you there, Earl. However, I would recommend looking for suspicious persons hanging around the unaffected high-quality stores; these robbers, from what I have heard, tend to scope out store merchandise a few hours before an attack."

"Understood," Ciel said. "Well, we shall be off. Goodbye, Undertaker," he said as he started making his way towards the door, Sebastian following suit.

"Farewell, Young Earl and Sebastian," Undertaker replied as he opened the lid to the coffin he had been perched on and started to lay down in it. "Never hesitate to return when you need something again in the future."

…

"Do you see anything, Sebastian?"

The butler shook his head and looked at his master as they walked down the street. "Nothing yet, my Lord. Everyone seems to be going about their normal business. I haven't seen one even remotely suspicious action."

Ciel sighed in frustration. "There is bound to be _something _sooner or later…" he muttered to himself, his blue eye scrutinizing every passerby. He and Sebastian had been patrolling the city for around twenty minutes, passing all of the stores with worthy merchandise, but everything had been completely normal. Of course, Ciel had not expected it was going to be easy to find a member of an elusive crime organization, but he still expected that he would have had _some _sort of clue to follow by now.

"You know, my lord, we have passed almost all of the remaining unaffected shops of interest," Sebastian said. "Considering we have not found something after traveling all this way, perhaps we should t-"

"Sebastian, stop walking," Ciel said in an urgent tone.

The butler froze in his tracks and looked down at the young earl in confusion. "Look," Ciel hissed under his breath.

Sebastian followed the gaze of his master and saw it. An average-height, somewhat stocky bald man was walking around inside of a jewelry store across the street. He was dressed well in a crisp suit and tie, but it was easy to see tattoos snaking up the back of his thick neck and the muscles bulging under the fabric. The man was not trying to buy anything, he was just looking at all of the wares with a cool, calculating look. He looked over a few necklace displays and then exited the store, pulling a kerchief out of his pocket and using it to dab at some beads of perspiration on his forehead. As he did so, it was easy to see the three-finger triangle ring on his hand, gleaming harshly in the sunlight.

"What are you planning, my Lord?" Sebastian said in a low voice.

"Sebastian, you stay here in this area. I'm going to follow him and see where he goes," Ciel said, his eyes never leaving the man. "I'm much smaller than you are and I will be able to blend into the crowd easier. It's our best bet."

The butler nodded sharply, his red eyes glimmering. "Be careful, my lord, we don't want any more deaths from this organization."

Ciel shot a quick glance at his butler and smirked. "I'll make sure to call you up before that happens." The two shared a smile, and then the young earl slipped back into the crowd, vanishing amongst the throngs of people in a matter of moments. Sebastian's gaze never left him.

_Do be safe out there, my Lord._

…

He almost had him.

Ciel had been trailing the bald man for nearly ten minutes. It had been easy to do at first, as the amount of people present had given him a significant amount of cover, but by this point the man had led him into a poorer section of the city with scarce amounts of people, so the young earl had to pursue from a distance. Ciel wasn't very familiar with this part of the city and it was starting to concern him, as the farther and farther in he went the more and more he felt that he may end up getting himself lost. _Just how much farther are we going to have to go before I find out where the rat has built his nest?_

The bald man presently slowed his steps and stopped in front of a very dilapidated looking tavern. _Evidently, not much farther. _The man paused and looked around himself before quickly entering the building, the doors swinging shut behind him. Ciel took a deep breath.

_Time to find the truth. _

He walked up to the two massive doors and yanked them open, letting himself in. The inside of the tavern was just as bad, if not worse, than its exterior. The smell of musk and decay swept into Ciel's nostrils, but before he could completely process his surroundings he was met with a gun in his face.

"Don't move," said the bald man.

Ciel froze in place, and suddenly he became aware that the entire tavern was filled with men, each pointing a gun at him, finger on the trigger. The click of a key turning behind him told Ciel that they had locked the door.

He was completely surrounded.

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"Your cat really is a curious one, isn't he?"

I chuckled and looked down at Gin, who was rolling around on his back and pawing at my braid, his yellow eyes nearly popping out of his head. "Well, can you blame him? He's in a new house with so much to explore, after all." I ran one hand across the silky fur on his side with a smile. I had been wandering around the Phantomhive manor for what seemed like eternity, a lost soul with no purpose, and it hadn't been long before my cat had decided to join me. The two of us, after wandering the length of the manor around two or three times, finally decided it best to head outside, where we then came across Finnian watering some plants out front and had thus been chatting with him ever since.

The gardener laughed a little. "He really is cute. Sometimes I wish that I had a pet, 'cos I think it would be a lot of fun to play with one. Though knowing my luck, I'd probably end up breaking him too…" Finnian said, his voice becoming sheepish.

I raised my eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"

"Watch," Finnian said. He walked over to the wheelbarrow that held his gardening supplies, bent down, and started to lift it. I opened my mouth to shout at him, but as I watched, the gardener lifted the wheelbarrow up with ease over his head and held it there. There was no sign of strain or discomfort in his face as he did so. I was, for once in a rare while, speechless.

"How…..?" I said, still without real words. Gin's fur puffed up, making him three or four times larger than normal, and he hid behind me, hissing.

"It's a long story, and also a sad one," Finnian said as he slowly lowered the wheelbarrow to the ground. "I didn't always use to be here. Y'see, when I was younger, I was captured by some awful people; they made me kill my friends and experimented on me by giving me vaccinations, which's why I have this super-strength. When Mr. Sebastian and the Young Master rescued me it was a blessing," Finnian said with a smile to his voice. He looked up at the fleeting rays of sunlight, which tangled in his strawberry blonde hair and made it gleam. "Now I've been able to do so many things that I couldn't before; I can go outside and see the sun, and spend time with plants and insects and other people who won't lock me up." He looked back down to me again, and I could see his turquoise eyes shining. "This place is my home, and no matter what happens I will always try my best to protect it, so that nothing bad can ever happen again."

I was dumbfounded**. **Just by looking at him, I never would have guessed that Finnian's life had been so… _horrible_. His story made my own reasoning for being here look completely and utterly insignificant. And yet, despite all of the terrible things that happened to him, he was… happy. He didn't care about his past horrors because he had moved into this wonderful present, and his biggest fear, now, was that he may chop a crater into a shrub or break a tool with his enhanced strength. I suddenly felt a new level of respect for the charming gardener. From the moment I had first arrived here I had always thought of Finnian as probably the most level-headed person in the manor that I had encountered, but now he was something of an idol in my eyes. Granted, that wasn't going to change my own opinions on revenge, but I still felt respect for his decision nonetheless.

"That's… incredible," I said. "How did you ever make it through all of that?"

"Well," Finnian started, scratching the back of his neck, "to be honest I'm not really sure. I just kept living through it, 'cos I figured someday I'd be in a better place than where I currently was, y'know? I just knew that there was a better future for me somewhere and I just needed to be patient n' wait for it to come," he finished.

I smiled slightly up at him, and he returned the gesture with a full grin. I didn't know what it was about him, but I felt… calmer in his presence. It was a feeling that I had only felt around Mathias before, but now I couldn't help but feel that this gardener was the closest thing that I had ever had to a genuine friend in this world.

"Hey, is Miss Ophelia out here?"

Finnian and I turned towards the manor and the source of the gruff voice. A tall blond man stood by the doors, dressed in a long white apron. A cigarette poked out of his mouth and a pair of goggles hung around his neck. Baldroy, the Phantomhive cook. I had not personally met with him, but I knew who he was from prior research on the manor.

I got to my feet. "Yes, I'm here. Is there something you need from me?" I asked.

"Yeah, there 'is something I need to talk to you about, inside preferably," he said.

I looked back to Finnian for some sort of sign, but he looked just as confused as I did. _What could the cook, of all things, want to talk to me about? _I suddenly felt something begin to nibble at my insides as I picked Gin up and went inside with Baldroy. Finnian, sensing something was wrong, followed us as well.

"So… what's the matter?" I asked the cook as soon as we were inside.

"I thought you might be interested in knowin' that the Young Master and Mr. Sebastian have not returned from their trip to the city, which they departed for around five n' a half hours ago, and I haven't seen your butler either." Baldroy peered down at the rug as if there was something extremely appealing hiding in its ornate fibers.

Five and a half hours? I looked back up through the window at the sky and saw it was starting to set. I mentally groaned. _Where on earth does the time go? _ I felt that sense of nibbling in my stomach turn into full-out gnawing. I didn't think that it took five and a half hours to meet with a man to discuss crimes, and I most certainly didn't think it took five and a half hours for my butler to buy rust cleaner. Something was wrong with this picture. Very wrong.

"I'm sure that the Young Master's taking his time with the case, just trying to get all the details worked out before he comes home," said Finnian, sensing my distress.

Baldroy shook his head. "He's gone n' talked to people in the city sev'ral times before, and it never took him this long."

"Something's not right," I said, to no one in particular. I didn't know what the problem was, but I just knew that if something was not done to help that there would be dire consequences. I snapped to attention and looked back and forth from the cook to the gardener. I knew what we had to do.

"Which one of you two can drive a carriage?"

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His nose itched.

He had his arms chained behind his back, his feet bound, blood trickling from his mouth where they had struck him, a filthy rag tied around his mouth, had a massive, throbbing headache, and was lying in an extremely small, extremely uncouth cage, and his biggest concern was that his nose was itching and he couldn't take care of it.

Ciel grunted and tried rolling over onto his side, to no avail. The men had attacked him and taken him down to a room in the tavern hidden beneath a trapdoor, where they had thrown him into the cage and then left him there to play cards in the other end of the dimly lit, moldy space. Other than some candles that sputtered out feeble light, it was completely dark. Even so, Ciel could see all around him were other children, some his age but mostly much younger, bound and gagged like him in their own cages; the children of the wealthy shop owners. They looked at him with sad, pleading eyes, knowing his pain and desperately wanting to be freed, to return to their families and escape this living hell.

Ciel knew that one call for Sebastian would end this, but he deliberately did not summon his butler. It was all part of the plan he had been devising while lying there in the cage. He had learned that all of the men that had captured him were dogs, subservient to a master that had not yet returned. He knew this as the men kept mentioning their "boss" as they dealt the cards, and how they were anxiously awaiting his return. It was crucial that he wait for this "boss" to return so that the crime organization would be eliminated at its source, preventing any further disruptions. The only question was, just how long was he going to have to wait?

A rustling sound close to him caught Ciel's attention. He was able to turn his head enough to see into the cage to his left. A little boy lay inside, peering at Ciel with one huge green eye; the other was swollen shut. The boy had bruises all over his body and Ciel could tell he was in great pain. Tears ran down the boy's face and sank into the dirty rag that they used to gag him. Ciel felt sick, looking at such a small, innocent boy in such a detrimental condition. Unable to look at the boy, he turned his gaze back to the men, who were now arguing that the bald man from earlier had cheated in the card game and were tussling across the small table, barking harsh insults at each other all the while. Ciel couldn't help but smirk as best he could with the gag around him.

_Soon enough, all of you pathetic mutts will return to the pound where you belong. Enjoy that card game while you still can._

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"I can't believe you got us lost! This isn't the right part of the city at all!"

" 'Ey! At least _I'm _not the one who crashed the carriage! The Young Master's gonna kill us when he finds out!"

"_You're_ the one who said it was okay for me to drive!"

"Yeh, only 'coz you kept begging me! I finally gave up!"

I groaned and turned away from the bickering Finnian and Baldroy. The three of us had gone into the city to try and find out what had happened to Ciel, Sebastian, and Mathias. Of course, we had ended up in some slum part of London with one of the Phantomhive carriages in shambles. Fan-fucking-tastic, if you ask me. I had absolutely no idea how we were going to get out of here, let alone fix the carriage and get it back to the manor when all was said and done. I just hoped that we'd manage to find some sort of clue to get us back in the right direction.

I looked around at all of the buildings that were around us. Being used to travelling through run-down back ways of cities, what I saw did not surprise me. Old, eroded storefronts with dirt coated across the windows and old boards covering the doors. I'm sure this part of the city was beautiful once, but now it was just a sad, washed-out old shell of its former glory. None of the buildings appeared to be open and thus were of no help to our situation. I sighed and was about to turn back around to Baldroy and Finnian- who were still fighting like children- and tell them that there was nothing here of interest and that we should start walking, when a glowing light from a window caught my eye. I turned and saw that the light was coming from an old tavern, the only building along this front that seemed remotely functional. The moment I laid eyes on it I knew I had to go in, not just because it was the only building that was open and was our only hope at getting some assistance, but because I just knew that there was something important there that I had to see, something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. A shiver ran up my spine. Something sinister was waiting for me inside, I could feel it.

I turned to look at Finnian and Baldroy now. "Hey, guys? I'm going to go into this tavern, see if I can find anything." When neither one of them answered, still too distracted by their arguing, I just rolled my eyes and walked off, up to the tavern doors. I grasped the old, somewhat rusted handles, took a deep breath, and yanked them open.

_Time to find the truth._

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His head pounded far worse now.

The men had grown bored with their card games, apparently unable to play without some form of cheating, and were now amusing themselves by inflicting harm on him. They had taken him out of his cage- why they chose him, out of all of the children, he did not know- and were throwing him across the room, as if he were some sort of ball that they were trying to catch, but since all of the men were extremely drunk on some sort of cheap whiskey none of them could seem to catch him, thus causing him to land head-first onto the ground multiple times. Whenever he did fall, the men, apparently angry at him for being "impossible" to catch, were taking their empty whiskey bottles and breaking them over the young earl's back, shoulders, head, or wherever else they managed to whack him. Glass shards were scattered all over the floor and many of them were getting stuck in Ciel's hair and clothing, pricking his flesh. Ciel could feel blood trickling down in warm rivulets all over his body, but he didn't dare strike back. He had to wait for that master to get here, or there would be no point in being here. He just didn't know how much more of this nonsense he could take.

As Ciel felt his body crash into the concrete floor for the forty-seventh time, he heard a groan from the drunken men above him.

"This one's no fun t'mess wif," slurred a man with a massive black beard that had consumed the majority of his face. "M'thinks we should get rid of 'm and find a new one."

"Agreed," said the bald man that had lured Ciel into the trap to begin with. With a massive kick, he turned Ciel over onto his back and then picked him up by the neck, a maniacal grin on his face. Even though the young earl could see that he was clearly drunk, it was evident that the bald man wanted him to suffer. Grinning, the man began to close his thick fingers around Ciel's neck. Ciel gasped and the man tightened his grip further. The other men in the room cheered their bald accomplice on and shouted drunken jeers at Ciel. The earl felt massive pain shoot up his neck and lodge in his throat.

_Damn, he's strong..._

Everything started to go hazy in a matter of moments. He fought to retain consciousness.

_I refuse to let myself go._

He struggled, trying to send a message to Sebastian, but his brain failed him. He was slowly becoming numb.

_I refuse to let myself go_, _I refuse… to let…. my….self….. _

**_GO!_**

What happened in the next matter of seconds was pure pandemonium. A rush of air filled Ciel's lungs as he collapsed onto the musky floor. The hand of the bald man, severed from its owner's body, hung loosely about his neck, gushing blood onto his blue clothing. The throwing knife which had done the deed continued its path through the air and lodged itself straight into the chest of the bearded man, now dead, red blooming from the mortal wound. The bald man wailed in pain and desperately tried to stem the blood flow from his stump of a forearm while the rest of the room erupted into chaos and shouts. Ciel tried looking as best he could through the throng of wriggling bodies for the person that had thrown the knife, but he couldn't see a thing. Fortunately for him, he didn't have to.

"For a group of burly men, you sure do scream like pathetic little children."

Instantly the entire room fell silent. The men, eyes wide with fear, jerked their heads up to face the ceiling. Ciel felt something inside him freeze.

_There's no way. It couldn't be._

"Seriously, what in the bloody fuck is _wrong _with all of you? Clearly, this is going to be easier than I thought."

_Nope, it definitely is. I'd recognize that sailor's tongue anywhere._

The trapdoor leading down to the hidden room was wide open, casting some more lurid light into the place, and standing halfway down the stairs was Ophelia Malory herself. She stood on the step with the same dominating presence that she had used when she and Ciel had first met, and her green eyes were burning with pure hatred. She scanned the room with the scrutiny of a hawk, her eyes smoldering even further at the sight of all of the children locked up in cages. Then her gaze fell onto Ciel, and even though the young earl could not really see her from his place on the floor, he could tell something inside of her snapped.

"**All of you are going to pay for this atrocity**," she snarled in an almost inhuman voice. **"ALL OF YOU!"**

Before anyone could even react Ophelia had jumped into the fray. She yanked the throwing knife from the corpse of the dead man and began slashing into the others with a fury that Ciel never thought possible from such a tiny body. In a matter of moments three more men were dead. Ciel just watched in bewilderment. She easily dodged the attacks from the drunken men, flipping and jumping past their heavy fists, kicks, bottles and blades with a delicate grace before slamming down into her opponents with indescribable fury. Red death paint splattered across the walls as the artist created the perfect portrait of destruction, each fallen body another key element to its success. Only until the last man fell did the artist lay down her brush. Ciel could hear the muffled gasps and whimpers from the children behind him as he looked up at the lolita whose back was to them, not in shock, fear, or amazement as they did, not with any newfound sense of respect, but with cognizance.

_She ruthlessly attacked those men without a second thought; she did not even stop to consider what sorts of lives they might live, the families, hopes and dreams that could have lain beneath the surface, she just stole away their lives at the drop of a hat and made their last moments pure suffering. And yet, she did it in such an effortless motion without any hint of reluctance or ineptitude, almost as if she's... if she's..._

And then it hit him.

_She's like some form of living **death **in itself._

Gasping and out of breath, Ophelia finally turned back to face Ciel and the other children, and for a brief moment the young earl could have sworn her eyes were physically blazing. She pushed some flyaway strands of hair from her face and blinked slowly; as she did so, the fire in her eyes died with it and she looked around the room as if only just now processing where she was. She then saw where Ciel lay on the ground and her eyes refocused, as she again realized her purpose in being there. Ophelia knelt down next to him, cupped his face with one bloody hand and tore the rag from his mouth with the other. Ciel coughed and gagged, the filthy taste of the cloth smashed into his tongue.

"Funny, if memory serves, you're the one who said I'd get myself killed if I tried to enter the real world, and look who ended up getting saved," Ophelia said with a contemptuous smirk. In the faint light of the room he could see those pale green eyes glimmering. "Clearly, Phantomhive," she continued, leaning in close to his face as she undid the binds around his wrists and feet, "you're an idiot."

Ciel could not believe his ears. The stupefied phase that he had been trapped in and the adrenaline that had rushed his body had both left him and all at once he realized just exactly what Ophelia had done. "_I'm _the idiot?!" he spat, exasperated. The moment she undid the rope around his ankles he jumped to his feet, ignoring the waves of pain that came when he did so, and pointed an accusatory finger down at her. "I was waiting here, going through all of this, for a reason! I had a plan, which _you _just threw off course with your little act! You put your life at risk by recklessly attacking those men; you could have ended up in stitches or worse. And did you ever stop to think about the consequence of your actions?" Ciel stepped right up to Ophelia and stared her straight in the face. "You may think that you're something special, _Malory_," he growled, "but you're nothing but an inconsiderate joke!" Ciel had to resist the urge to lash her across the face as his anger clawed viciously at his insides.**  
**

Ophelia's mouth hung open in shock. "A joke? _A joke? **A**_** JOKE?** I just saved your life! Do you _know _what I had to go through to get down here? I had Finnian and Baldroy drive me into town and wreck a carriage so that I could find your pathetic ass-"

"Wait, they WRECKED one of the carriages?" Ciel said in disbelief.

Ophelia sighed. "_That's_ what you're choosing to focus on here? Listen, **_Phantomhive_**, forget the blasted carriage, I didn't come here to ruin your chances at solving a case. I didn't come here to make things worse for you. I _came _here because you and I are a team, and I am _not _going to let my other half die after just one day of knowing him!" Ophelia suddenly grabbed Ciel by the collar of his shirt and yanked him down so that they were eye-to-eye. He could feel every inch of her body shaking as she said, "whether you and I are fans of it or not, we are **working together**, and God help me I'm trying to make the best of it so why don't you do the same? Have I not made myself clear?"

Her voice cracked in anger at the end of her sentence and Ciel could not bring himself to meet her gaze, as he realized in that moment just how egoistical he was acting. Ophelia was being a complete bitch no doubt, but it would have been far more difficult to free himself had she not shown up when she did, and on top of that how would she have known his plan when she had not been there to begin with? She had only done what any sane person would have done in her place; she had defended herself and fought back. Yes, he was extremely irritated with her for her decision, and she had more than likely complicated the case further, but in this instance, as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. He was not acting like a part of a team, and although he most certainly did not enjoy or want to work with her, neither one of them was to get anywhere if they kept acting as the men had done: arguing over mundane things and tearing each other apart with pointed words. Ciel looked back up to Ophelia, whose face was still filled with hatred. "I…," he started.

"I think it's been made pretty clear that the two of you need to die."

Ciel and Ophelia snapped around. The bald man staggered out of the pile of bodies, covered in a gory mess and grasping a shotgun in his good hand. Although his wound was still dripping with blood and it was evident that he would not be alive much longer, both Ophelia and Ciel could tell that he had enough strength left in him to make the shot. Ciel heard Ophelia let out a barely audible gasp and he felt himself tense up. It was time to finish this; things had been thrown far out of proportion. He knew in that moment what he needed to do and time was running out for him to do it. The earl took in a deep breath and focused.

"Don't. Move," Ciel hissed under his breath to Ophelia, his gaze locked on the man.

"You crazy? He'll kill us!" She hissed back.

The bald man chuckled, preparing the gun and inching closer.

"Listen, you need to trust me on this. We're a team, remember? Just do what I say and we will make it through this."

The man took a few more large strides, nearly to them.

"Oh, so _now_ you bloody think we're a team?"

The man raised the gun.

"Shh!" Ciel closed his eyes, concentrating on the one thing that he knew would not fail them.

_Please, hurry-_

The man put his finger on the trigger-

"CIEL!" Ophelia shouted, trying to pull him out of the way-

**BANG.**

The shot echoed through the dark room. The bullet had found its target- a spot in the wall. The bald man fell to his knees, staring in horror at where the gun, knocked from his hand, had lodged itself into a wall, held fast there by a large simple fork.

"How….?" Ophelia whispered.

Ciel just smiled.

"It's actually quite simple, really; you see…" came a voice from the bottom of the stairs. A tall, dark figure stood there, and the bald man quivered in its presence. Slowly, one black dress shoe came into the light, and then the other. Sebastian Michaelis came into full view, his red eyes blazing.

"…I am simply one **hell **of a butler," he finished, a smirk to his lips.

The bald man stared at Sebastian as if he were some sort of evil apparition, which wasn't far off from the truth. "P-Please, don't hurt me, I beg of you!" the man shouted as he fell forward at Sebastian's feet, sobbing like an infant.

Sebastian just looked down at the man with a kindly smile. "Oh, I wasn't planning on it; that wound of yours is going to finish you off in a matter of moments anyhow. Might as well let you enjoy those last few moments of agony while you can…" The butler turned away from the groveling man to face Ciel, completely disregarding Ophelia, eyes filled with concern.

"_Bocchan, _you should not have waited so long to call me; look at what a mess you've made of yourself!" The butler knelt down and began picking pieces of glass out of his master's hair and clothing. "I cannot believe you allowed those men to handle you in such a way…" Sebastian murmured, his expression pained to see his precious master so heavily wounded.

Ciel just scoffed and wiped some dried blood off his lip. "Honestly, Sebastian, I am perfectly fine. A few scratches won't do a thing to me. Things could have been far worse. Luckily I had a bit of extra help." He jerked his head towards Ophelia, who just blinked, obviously not expecting such a gesture from him.

"Oh?" Sebastian said, turning to face Ophelia as well. His red eyes held her green ones for a moment before softening somewhat. "Well, I appreciate you lending a hand to my Young Master, miss Malory. It is refreshing to see that you two are finally getting along to an extent."

Ophelia just shrugged a shoulder. "Sometimes, things just need to be done." She walked over to the mess of bodies and picked up the throwing knife where she had left it on the floor. "This really came in handy," she mused, using her forefinger to swipe the residue off of it. "Perhaps I'll keep it for the future…"

"Say, Ophelia, where _did _you get that knife from?" Ciel asked as Sebastian pulled the last shard of glass from his hair and straightened back up.

Ophelia turned to him. "Oh, there was a fellow up at the bar, guarding the trapdoor. Stole it off his belt after knocking him unconscious. You'd be surprised how much a wink and a giggle can distract a man enough to take him out," she said nonchalantly.

Ciel just stared at her, feeling himself sweat-drop. _God, she really is crazy. _He then turned so that he was facing both her and his butler. "Well, the bottom line is, knife or no, we have located the missing children and can now reunite them with their families, which Her Majesty most certainly will appreciate. However, despite this, we have failed to eliminate the leader of this crime organization and thus there is still a chance for future incidents," the earl finished. He lowered his gaze to the red stains on the floor beneath his feet.

"Actually," Sebastian said with a happy tone to his voice, "I don't think we will be hearing much from this group for quite some time."

Ciel's head snapped back up to look at his butler, who looked rather pleased. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

"Well, perhaps we should go see for ourselves," the butler said. In one swift move he picked Ciel up in his arms and headed for the stairs. Ophelia chuckled under her breath and followed suit, while Ciel mentally facepalmed. _Of course he had to pick me up. Of course. Malory's going to be teasing me about this one for sure._

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I came out of the tavern to find two grinning faces right outside the door.

"Miss Malory, I'm a hero!" Finnian shouted with glee, bouncing up and down with shining eyes.

Baldroy vigorously nodded at his gardener companion. "You shoulda seen it, Miss Malory, our little Finny caught 'imself a criminal!" The cook happily clapped the strawberry blonde young man on the back.

"Oh, did he now?" came Ciel's voice from off to my left. "And how exactly did he manage that?" He asked, stepping forward after Sebastian had lowered him to the ground. I couldn't help but suppress a smile. _Why is it that Sebastian carries him around like that? He's not exactly an infant._

At the sight of Ciel's wounds, Baldroy and Finnian's expressions morphed from joyful to shocked and horrified. "Y-Young Master Ciel! Are you all right?!" Finnian sputtered, rushing over to the earl's side and putting a hand on his shoulder as if worried Ciel would fall. "You're covered in blood!"

At the sight of Finnian worrying over his master I felt a sort of irritation rise in my stomach, as I was also bloodied and bruised but not one bit of concern had been tossed my way. Granted, Ciel _was _the head of their household, but it was still bothersome. _I guess I shouldn't be expecting much; it's not like I'm one of them or ever going to be. _

"I am all right, Finnian, don't waste your breath over me," Ciel replied as he removed the gardener's quivering hand from his bloodstained shoulder. "What is important now is this criminal business. Please enlighten me with what has happened in my absence."

"R-right!" Finnian shouted, snapping out of his concerned stupor. "Well, y'see, Baldroy and I got into a rather heated argument over the carriage-" Finnian suddenly faltered and lowered his head in shame as he realized what he had to say next- "which, er, well, I had been driving too fast and I ended up snapping the reigns and the horses got loose and it crashed!" Baldroy lowered his head as well as Finnian blubbered, "I really didn't mean to do it and I feel so terrible! Please forgive me, Master Ciel, Mr. Sebastian! It was an accident!" Finnian flung himself down at his master's feet, shoulders shaking. I raised an eyebrow. _Finnian sure does sway from one emotion to another sometimes._

Ciel looked down at the gardener, expressionless. "Forget about the carriage, Finnian," he said as the gardener looked back up at him with big eyes. "We can easily replace it. Please continue with your story and stop wasting time with your rampant emotions."

Finnian nodded, got back to his feet slowly, and continued. "S-so anyway, Baldroy and I got into a huge tussle and I became so frustrated that I wanted to throw something, not at Baldroy, mind you, but just throw somethin', get the anger out, you know?"

Baldroy grunted and gnawed on the cigarette stub in his mouth. "Not true," he said gruffly, "you threw it right at me and I had to duck!"

Finnian sighed. "I wasn't _trying _to hit you with anything, I was just frustrated!" He turned away from the cook and back to Ciel before continuing. "So I wasn't really thinking and I just grabbed hold of a carriage wheel and yanked it off, and then I threw it, be it directly or indirectly at Baldroy, and it ended up hitting into a wall right as a man was hurriedly walking towards the tavern behind us. The man got so frightened by what happened that he just passed out there on the cobblestones! Naturally I felt terrible and went over to the man to see if he was all right, but right when I did some officers arrived. They came up to me and asked if I was the one who stopped him, and when I said 'yes' and explained what had happened they thanked me gratefully and were ever-so-kind! The officers told me they'd been pursuing the man for around an hour, and that perhaps if it had not been for me they might not have found him!" The gardener beamed hugely. "Supposedly the man had been arrested earlier in the week due to some suspicious activity, but had escaped shortly after revealing some things about who he was. Apparently he admitted to being the head of the Circle of Bane, which was the group planning to kidnap the shop owners' children, after some long torturous interrogations before getting away, and police have been trying to find him ever since," Finnian finished, his chest puffed out with pride. I couldn't help but be impressed by Finnian's strength for the second time today. _Note to self: do not end up on his bad side._

"So what I am hearing is," Ciel said slowly, "you caught the head of this group, erm, the Circle of Bane, by nearly capacitating him with a carriage wheel?"

"That would be right!" Finnian said with a grin. "'Course, I feel bad, both for further wrecking the carriage and nearly knocking this guy out, but it was worth it in the end, wouldn't you say?" Finnian jumped in place with glee, clapping his hands together excitedly. "I still can't believe I caught a criminal!"

Ciel just blinked at his gardener and mentally sweat-dropped. "Well, it most certainly wasn't the way I would have chosen to catch a criminal of that nature, but in the end you were able to bring him to justice so for that I congratulate you." Finnian beamed as Ciel looked past us and down the street. "Without a master to guide them, this pack of mutts surely cannot stand without further orders, and once the police are notified as to the location of their hideout, this area will be under such tight watch that any possible stragglers will be put into place," the earl said with a dark grin quirking up his lips. He turned back to face us, his devious expression especially frightening considering the blood smeared across his features. "The only thing we have left to do now is to inform the police of what has happened so that they can free the trapped children and return them safely to their families," he finished.

Sebastian, who had been silent the entire time, nodded. "The closest station is not far from here; if we start walking now we can most certainly make it home in time for an on-schedule supper," he said as he consulted his pocket watch.

Ciel nodded in agreement. "This case for Her Majesty is nearly closed, let's not waste time in its completion. Lead the way for us, Sebastian."

The butler bowed slightly. "As you wish, My Lord." He turned and began to walk down the street away from the tavern, Finnian and Baldroy following suit, giddy in their work at criminal-catching, leaving Ciel and I behind. Ciel's gaze followed the trio for a moment, then he turned to face me, his grin faded back into his normal cold expression. I just looked at him, unsure of what he wanted.

"Miss Malory, I do not say this often, but… thank you for what you did today," Ciel said slowly, as if unsure how to go about showing appreciation towards me. "And although you are a... handful to say the least, I promise to start acting like a team player even if it may not be the most desirable or easiest thing to do."

I was stunned. Even though he had said it in such a bitter fashion, that was the closest thing that I had gotten to a compliment from him, let alone anyone, in the longest time, and despite his bitterness, I felt something warm blooming in the pit of my stomach nonetheless. Not that I was going to run up to him and give him a giant bear hug anytime soon; I'd rather have my arms cleaved off like some of those fellows in the cellar before I ever reached out towards that pompous snake. I flashed the earl my most devilish smile. "Glad to hear we're on the same page, Phantomhive," I said. Ciel just gave me a small nod and started to turn and follow after the others when something else in my mind clicked that I had forgotten earlier. "Oh, one more thing," I called after him.

Ciel paused and turned back around, his eyebrows quirked up as if to say "yes?" I reached into the pocket of my knickers and pulled out Ciel's blue ring, which I held out to him in my palm. "I think you're forgetting something," I said.

Ciel just stared at the ring in my hand, and then suddenly looked down to his naked thumb as if just now realizing that he had lost it. "How did you…?" He asked slowly.

"When I knocked out the guy manning the bar this tumbled out of his pocket," I explained. "I guess when they all took you out he must have taken it from you in the hopes of selling it or something."

Ciel blinked. "Well, no matter the case, I appreciate you keeping it safe for me." He reached out and plucked the ring from my hand, his cold fingertips brushing against the smooth skin of my palm as he did so. He slowly put the ring back on, his eyes never leaving mine. We regarded each other for a brief moment, and I almost wondered if there would be a follow-up episode to last night's lavatory incident, when the aftershocks of his surprise had worn off and his cold expression returned.

"We'd best be off," the earl said, "or we'll be left behind."

I nodded. "For once, there's something we can agree on." But before I made any motions to follow Sebastian, Finnian, and Baldroy, I extended a hand out towards Ciel. "So, does this mean we're officially partners now, Phantomhive?" I asked my enemy.

Ciel stared at my hand for a moment and then lifted his gaze to meet mine. "I suppose it does." He took my outstretched hand and shook it firmly in his frosty grip before releasing it and following after the others without a second thought. I followed the earl, my fingertips tingling slightly where he had squeezed them.

"So, now that we're partners," I said as I walked next to Ciel, "would you mind calling me by my first name, Ophelia? 'Miss Malory' sounds like I'm a small child getting scolded by her teacher."

Ciel turned to face me. "Whatever suits you best… **_Miss Malory_**," he said with an evil smirk as he turned back to the road and quickened his pace. I rolled my eyes and picked up my speed as well so he wouldn't leave me in his dust.

_One day, I'll get him to respect me enough to say my name. One day._

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From an old, cracked window in the front of the tavern, a pair of bright green eyes flashed. Long red hair glistened in the last rays of the dying sun and a mouth full of serrated teeth curved into a monstrous smile.

She had certainly gone to town on them. He had arrived to eliminate the group of men from his list only to find that the girl had gotten to them first, and oh, had she attacked them! She had sliced into them so much that pretty red had been strewn everywhere in such a fashion that even he could appreciate. Granted, he had heard the rumors of what she could do, but now, after seeing her work in person, he knew that she was really all that the others had said about her. Quite impressive indeed. He would have to meet the girl as soon as possible, he decided, so that he could get a good read on the situation before the storm had its chance to strike.

"Ah, yes," he crooned as he adjusted his red glasses, "death is certainly going to have its day very, very soon."

Grell Sutcliff pushed the doors to the tavern open, and with one last little chuckle, disappeared into the coming night.

.

.

.

.

.

It was just after midnight in England when the sleek black carriage, nearly invisible under the cover of darkness, pulled to a halt outside the Phantomhive manor. The driver leaped down from the reigns in one swift motion and opened one of the carriage doors, retrieving two packages from its depths: a large square package, tightly bound so not to spill its important contents, and a can of rust cleaner. The driver shut the door and turned to face the manor with dark red eyes, his expression calm until he saw the other carriage in the driveway.

At the sight of the Phantomhive carriage, Mathias Keane's eyes narrowed as he cursed under his breath and made his way around the side of the manor, disappearing into the shadows.

* * *

**And chapter four (technically chapter 5; though I'm not counting the first chapter as an official story chapter as it was a prologue) is now complete! Ophelia and Ciel are officially learning to tolerate one another, we've seen a darker, more bloodthirsty side to my OC, Sebastian uttered his famous line, and, of course, more secrets and conflicts are starting to play out. What is Mathias's grudge against the Undertaker? Why was he gone so long and then reappeared late that night? What role does Grell play in all of this? And, most importantly, will any romance bloom in the Phantomhive manor? **

**...Yeah, okay, I know that last one isn't by far the most important issue, and may or may not be a definite occurrence later on, but I felt like throwing it out there all the same. XD These questions will all be answered in time... In the next chapter, expect more depth to these questions, plus more conflicts, more characters from the anime, and possibly even some more OC's. Though the case of the robberies and kidnappings that I devised has closed, keep your eyes peeled for a liiittle more to come out of the Circle of Bane, and also, on a completely different note, Gin. Yes, I _do _have a reason for including him other than being cute and fluffy. So yeah, expect even more mystery and action and other good stuff in the next chapter.****  
**

**Speaking of which, I have another announcement to make: I have been writing other anime fan fictions along with this one, and once chapter 7 of "Dirges" is published I'm going to release the first chapters to two new anime fan fictions, one for Ouran Highschool Host Club and one for Princess Jellyfish. In addition to this, once the third chapter of my ROTG fan fiction, "Sweet Nightmares," has been published, I plan to release the first chapter to another non-anime fan fiction; to any Treasure Planet lovers out there, you're going to enjoy this one. :D**

**So I think that takes care of everything I wanted to say. Thanks for continuing to support my fan fiction! Stay beautiful! ;3**

**-Mellow**


	6. V

**Phew, it's been a while. Gotta love school piling on all the work in the final few weeks, eh? Well in any case, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. :)**

**Also, what do you think of the new cover art for the story? A friend of mine drew it; it's her interpretation of what she believes Ophelia to look like. I was really happy she liked my story enough to make me some fan art! 3 I'm going to keep it up for a while. Eventually I'll draw my own cover for it, but right now I'm perfectly content with her Ophelia drawing. If only the little box could show more of the artwork... but I digress.**

****Don't forget reviews! So far I have at least one review per chapter, but the majority of the newer reviews are all from the same guest user (if you happen to be reading this, Guest, thanks for your support!). Reviews help me grow as a writer, so please be sure to review. They also help me realize that people are actually reading my story and that it is a story worth continuing (not that I would EVER quit this story 'til its end, but it's just a good feeling, getting reviews). **

**So yes, read on, stargazers!**

* * *

"Mouse! Mouse! Kill it!"

"Gah, it nearly ran across my feet!"

"Dammit, stay still why don't you, you little bugger?"

"EEEEEK! JUST KILL IT ALREADY!"

_Someone please shoot me now._

The halls of the Phantomhive manor were filled with complete pandemonium. Somehow, a mouse had found its way into the place and Baldroy, Finnian, and Mey-Rin had been pursuing it ever since it had first been seen in the dining hall. The trio was shrieking at the top of their lungs and each member was running to and fro, trying to clobber the mouse with whatever they could find, from a silver serving platter to a piece of firewood. I stood in the middle of the fray, mentally sweat-dropping as Mey-Rin dashed past me for the eighteenth time, shrieking like a banshee. _How much longer can this last? It's been nearly two hours and they're still going at it. _I was beginning to wonder if the mouse was even still in the manor to begin with.

A flash of blue caught my eye, and I looked up to see Ciel coming down the hall. He looked as if he had recovered completely from yesterday's attacks; there weren't any traces of pain in his expression and his wounds had healed entirely. He saw me at the other end of the hall, paused for a moment, and then started making his way towards where I was standing. He brushed a flyaway strand of greyish hair out of his face, and as he did so, his blue ring glistened in the light, complementing the rest of his outfit. It suddenly occurred to me that the only attire I'd seen the earl wear was of the colour blue. _Interesting, perhaps there is some sort of personal reason for this choice? _I'd have to keep an eye on that for the future. I presently felt some faint tremors in the floorboards below me, and I refocused again on Ciel, who was nearly to me but not quite there yet. "You may want to wait a second," I called to him.

Ciel paused and looked at me, confused. "Whatever do you mean?" I pointed behind him, and he turned to see Baldroy hurtle towards him at full speed, waving around a rolling pin as if it were some sort of deadly weapon. Ciel stared, flabbergasted, and managed to leap out of the way before the crazy cook knocked into him. He landed right next to me, a huge sweat-drop rolling down his head, expression rather irritated.

"The hell was that?" he said aloud, straightening up and fixing his jacket, rumpled from the near-attack.

I chuckled slightly. "I _told _you to wait, Phantomhive." I smirked at Ciel, who just rolled his eyes in response. Ciel and I were considerably more cordial towards each other since we had both learned to work as a team, but that hadn't eliminated the little jabs we tossed back and forth to one another, and I was glad for it; I loved to grate on his haughty nerves. "Your servants apparently came across a mouse somewhere in the manor, and they've been chasing it around for God knows how long. I'm surprised you hadn't run into them until just now."

"Mm." Ciel said quietly, looking past me and down the hall, as if trying to scope out when the others would come racing back again. "I heard all kinds of shouts from my study, and it became so disturbing that I had to come out and find the source of the nonsense. It's a wonder I could hear myself think." Ciel paused to rub the back of his neck with one hand, his visible blue eye flickering as he lightly squeezed the pale skin.

I raised an eyebrow. "Still hurting there, Phantomhive?"

He turned to me with a scoff. "You humor me, Miss Malory." He lowered his hand back down to his side. "It takes more than a few whacks, tosses and punches from a couple of imbeciles to bring me to my knees. I figured that you would have understood that by now," he finished with a smirk to his lips.

"I guess I just keep on underestimating you," I said coyly. "I would stop, but it's just far too entertaining, getting a ruse out of you." Ciel opened his mouth to retort, but some noises from the end of the hall brought our little banter to a halt. We turned around to see a tiny grey mouse, no bigger than my palm, dashing erratically across the floor. _Seriously? _That's _the lousy rodent that has the others all in a tizzy? _I looked over to Ciel and saw that he was thinking exactly the same thing. Presently we saw Mey-Rin, Baldroy and Finnian charging down the way at full speed, shouting "GET ITTTTTTTT!" at the top of their lungs, eyes blazing with determination. At the sight of them stampeding down that hall and wielding their huge plates and silverware to counter such a small animal I couldn't help but snicker under my breath. It was so overly dramatic that it seemed unreal. But then again, what _wasn't _overly dramatic in this place?

The mouse, sensing its impending destruction, veered off to the side and made a beeline for a slightly ajar door, its legs churning rapidly in a desperate attempt to escape. "Noooo, it's going to get away!" Mey-Rin shrieked. Baldroy tossed his rolling pin aside and leaped, arms outstretched towards the rodent, but fell rather short. What followed was an idiotic domino effect of sorts, with Finnian and Mey-Rin tripping over themselves and faceplanting into the fallen cook's back. All three struggled to untangle themselves from one other as the mouse scuttled ever closer to freedom. This fact only made the trio squirm about more feverishly- and hopelessly.

"Finny-! Get off!"

"Oh no! We're going to lose 'im! Hurry up!"

"Would someone PLEASE GET OFF MY BACK ALREADY?!"

Things were looking rather hopeless, when suddenly-

A massive black ball launched itself high up over the mess of bodies on the floor, descending through the air in a perfect arch, its bright yellow eyes ablaze. Finnian, Baldroy, and Mey-Rin lifted their heads in astonishment as Gin sailed over them and landed, almost completely in slow motion, on the rodent's long tail. Its beady-eyed stare was only just visible before Gin swallowed the mouse in one gulp. Satisfied with his catch, the cat then plunked down and proceeded to groom himself as if nothing had happened at all. Everyone, including myself, stared.

"Well," Ciel said with raised eyebrows. "Was not expecting that."

Finnian was a bit more responsive to the whole thing. _"_Whoa! That was incredible!" the gardener said with awe. He managed to untangle himself from the others and knelt down next to Gin, who didn't appear to notice. "I knew your cat was special, but that was somethin' else!"

"You've got that right!" Mey-Rin said as she leaped up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. "I never thought a cat could jump that high!"

Baldroy grunted in agreement and slowly got to his feet as well. "If it hadn't 'ad been for 'im we probably wouldn't've caught the mouse for a while. It's a good thing we have 'im here."

"Yes," Ciel said while peering down at the black ball of fur. "I suppose in this regard your pet isn't so much of a nuisance as I had previously thought."

I smirked. "Still upset over him stealing your supper, Phantomhive?"

"Please," Ciel scoffed as he turned to face me, eyebrows quirked. "Even I'm not _that _heartless." I just gave him an "if-you-say-so" look and rubbed the sole of my boot gently across Gin's back, who stood up and arched himself up, purring in pleasure.

At that moment I heard one of the doors in the hall creak its way open. "I presume the shenanigans have come to a close?" came a voice from behind the door. I straightened up and turned to see Mathias peering out from around the ornate wood, only visible to his torso, one gloved hand on the door's edge.

Ciel gave him a brief nod. "Yes, it appears as so… for now, at least." He shot a steely glance at the others, who looked away and whistled nonchalantly as if they hadn't done a thing.

"Excellent." Mathias returned the gesture with a nod of his own and stepped completely into the hallway in one fluid motion, gently shutting the door behind him. "It was so frenetic out here that I had to hide myself away to avoid being knocked over." He flicked some mussed bangs out of his eyes. "I am glad that I can now walk without having the concern of shoe prints in my backside," he finished with a faint smirk to his lips. He came to stand next to Gin and I, looking down at the cat before scratching him behind an ear. "We really do have an interesting specimen for a traveling companion, don't we, my lady?" He straightened back up and looked at me with a kindly smile. Gin, apparently offended that Mathias had stopped petting him, got up and waddled off down the hall to find something else that would amuse him.

I looked up at Mathias with a smile of my own, but as I looked into those warm crimson eyes I saw something glimmering behind those scattered flecks in their surfaces. A faint hardness started to form in the corners of my mind at the sight of it, and I felt myself go back several hours ago to the source of the suspicion.

**Flashback**

_It was just after midnight. I lay in the cool darkness of my bedroom, snuggled comfortably under the covers. Everything was perfectly quiet; the only sound to be heard was the gentle breathing of Gin, who had curled up at the foot of the bed and had already let slumber overtake him for the night. The curtains were drawn, the candles long blown out, the music box just visible in the rayless room from its spot on the bedside table. All was normal, and I was beginning to slip out of consciousness, yet despite all that I just could not seem to completely transfer myself over into the dream world. I was most certainly worn out from everything that had happened today, but something just held me in that position, curled up and ready for sleep, warmth enveloping me, but unable to get there._

_It was in that moment that I heard the door open. Not all the way, just ever-so-slightly, enough for one to get enough of a glimpse of what was inside. Instantly I felt my insides lurch, the heavy grogginess that had weighed me down shattering and my mind recovering, whirring at full speed. I lay perfectly still and kept my eyes closed so that I would appear asleep. I heard the door slowly open further, extremely slowly to avoid any creaks that would disturb the stillness, and once it was fully open I heard one shoe-clad foot enter my room, and then another. My heart pounded wildly and it took everything I had to keep from leaping out of bed and slamming into my possible attacker. I tried instead to reason with myself. _Ophelia, just think about this logically: Ciel Phantomhive wouldn't make it this easy for a criminal to just waltz on into his manor, especially considering what happened to his parents. You're more than likely overreacting. _Even so, as I heard the footsteps come closer and closer to my bedside I couldn't help but feel that whoever had invited themselves in was no friendly spirit._

_The foorsteps presently came to a halt, right next to where I lay. Somehow I managed to continue to omit slow, calm breaths, even though the rest of me was teetering on the edge. I heard a soft_ clunk _of something being set on my bedside table and I felt little warm flecks dancing across my face; the intruder had placed a candle so that he could better see. I heard next the person's level, deep breathing and the _shush _of clothing rustling against each other as he knelt down next to me. I was absolutely livid._

Don't you move, Ophelia, don't even think about it…

_The person placed one hand on the mattress, just a breath away from me, and I felt myself starting to quiver._

Don't move, you'll give yourself away-

_-An ice cold hand came to rest on my forehead, calloused fingertips brushing the bangs out of my face._

**Okay, that's it.**

_In that moment I shot up out of bed, shrieking in fury. I grabbed my intruder's wrist and twisted it roughly, using my free hand to shove the man back with strength I didn't know I had. He let out a grunt of pain and stumbled back, his shoes thunking noisily against the floor. I ripped the covers off of me and jumped off the mattress, snatching the throwing knife that I had fortunately left out on the table and leaped onto the man's chest, the sharp blade to his throat. I looked down into his eyes with my burning gaze and what I saw made me freeze entirely. _Those eyes… those are…

_I felt all of the adrenaline that had been bottling up inside me vanish as quickly as it had come. I withdrew the knife and slid off of his body, just standing there, dumbfounded. A quick flash caught my eye and I saw, in my mirror, that my eyes appeared to be blazing a bright, almost neon shade of green, but it was fading with the rest of my sudden burst of power. The sight of it made my stomach twist a bit. Before I could comprehend that though, the man slowly got up from the floor and rose to his full height. I snapped my attention back as he brushed off his trousers and turned to look at me._

_"Well," Mathias said, still a bit out of breath, "those self-defense tips that I gave you certainly have helped."_

_I didn't know whether to be relieved or pissed off. "Mathias, just what do you think you're doing here creeping in like that at this hour-"_

_Then it hit me. All at once, a rush of memories from today's events slammed into me, flooding my senses. All of the fighting, the blood, the arguments, the bruises and the broken bones, the deaths, everything- and it became suddenly clear to me that I had faced it alone. Mathias had not been there at all! I could not believe that I had not realized it until now, but now that it had come to me I could not deny or avoid the truth._

Mathias has been gone all day, without you knowing of his whereabouts or his actions. He has disrespected you.

_The fury that had possessed me not even five minutes before suddenly returned to me again. I locked my gaze onto my butler, every inch of me quaking. **"Where. The. Bloody. HELL. Have you BEEN?" **I snarled. I half wanted to snatch my knife from the floor and pin him again, push the blade to his throat until he coughed out an explanation. "You went into town God knows how long ago, and now all of a sudden you think you can just slide on in here like nothing even **happened?!" **I snatched him by his necktie and yanked him down to my eye level. He didn't say a word, just let out a quick grunt from my action. "Do you have any idea what I've gone through today? Oh wait, that's right, of course you wouldn't because you didn't **care enough **to find out! Ciel got himself kidnapped trying to solve the case! I had to bloody go into town and save his ass from all of these men who could have very well killed me! And where were you? You went off and bought your damn rust cleaner and decided to do a little **sightseeing **instead of realizing that your master may potentially be in trouble and return home right away to check on her?" I put my face right next to his. "You'd better start explaining yourself," I growled._

_My butler looked extremely exasperated. "My lady," he said slowly, moving back from my narrowed eyes and bared teeth. He paused a moment then, as if trying to assess the best way to word his confession. I waited, my heart thumping wildly at all the possible things he could say. Finally he spoke and I felt even more intense. "…You must keep your voice down. You would not want to be a bad house guest by awaking any other members of the-"_

_"Keep my voice down? **Keep it DOWN?" **I could not believe the words that had left his lips. I tightened my grip on his collar even further until I could feel an uneasy heat pulsating through the taut veins in my hand. "I will not keep my voice down! You don't even seem to realize the full extent of what you have done, do you, Mathias? What you chose to do was a direct infringement of the contract you and I agreed upon! You promised to me that you would not leave me anywhere alone without my knowing of your whereabouts, and that you would return promptly upon finishing whatever it is that you needed to do…" I couldn't bring myself to finish my sentence as I was too upset to continue. I released his shirt and shoved him backwards against the floor, slowly straightening up. "First you get angry with me in front of Ciel, spitting orders at me as though you are my father, and now this….? Whatever has gotten into you lately, Mathias?" I looked down at my butler again, not with indignation this time, but with something along the lines of disappointment._

_Mathias slowly rose to his feet and began to smooth all of the wrinkles that I had procured out of his clothing. Even as his hands moved I could see that they were trembling, causing him to fumble about longer. He finished his work and walked right up to me, and as his gaze locked onto mine I could see that he was genuinely pained._

_"My lady…." even his voice sounded deeply and utterly hurt as he broke off and took a deep breath before continuing. "I understand where you would be angered and saddened by my extremely prolonged absence, but I assure you it was not for any reason that you may be thinking." He knelt down onto his knees and gently grasped my shoulders, his eyes never leaving mine. "It did not take countless hours to find and purchase my rust cleaner, I assure you; I had that done in well under an hour. What did take a long time was finding my way back to the manor from town. After all, we have never been in this part of England before and I am still trying to learn my way. I tried to retrace my steps and return that way, but I ended up getting horribly lost instead, traveling through all of these back-way streets before finally getting out of town and realizing where I needed to go." He leaned in closer to me, and I ever-so-slightly felt tremors creeping across my shoulder blades from where his fingers touched my skin. "I realize how much this sounds like some sort of horrible excuse for a larger cover-up, but my lady you must know that I would never try to harm you, and I apologize deeply for what I have already caused. The words I speak now are as true as the promise I made when our contract was made permanent. Please, for the sake of our partnership and our friendship, you must believe me. I assure you that I have realized my flaws and that I will work to keep from ever messing up like this again." He pulled my small form into his arms and held me there tightly. His chin came to rest on my tiny shoulder and he whispered into my ear, "and besides…. We both know what would happen if this didn't work out…"_

_At his last, barely audible sentence I felt all of my strength drain out of me completely, leaving a hollow, empty feeling behind. I felt my arms wrap as best they could around his back before I even realized I had done so. As much as I hated what he had done to me, I couldn't be this way and I knew it. Mathias had apologized, and though I felt there was some more explaining in order an apology was always an apology. He wasn't a perfect butler, I knew that; niether of us were perfect and that was what bound us together. I would never forget these bruises on his record, but it was in everyone's best interest to move past this incident and get on with the next phase of our time here. And besides, I was sure that Mathias would hold true to his word; after all, he had two strikes against him and a third after all of these promises would most certainly have a much different response from me._

_"Fine…. Luckily for you I'm in a good enough mood to apologize." I pulled away from Mathias, who released his arms and stood up with me. "Just know that I'm going to have a much tighter eye on you in the future, Mathias."_

_My butler smiled then, a faint chuckle escaping his lips. "I am so glad that we were able to take care of this. Well, it is rather late so I shall leave you to get some rest, my lady. Is there anything else that you need before I go?"_

_I shook my head. "I should be able to take things from here, but thanks all the same." I walked back over to my bed and slowly climbed back in, wrapping the covers about me until I resembled a cocoon. Gin stirred slightly on the bed and rolled over, stopping at my toes before curling up again._

_Mathias nodded. "Very well, sweet dreams, my lady." He began to turn away, as if to leave, but then turned back to face me again. "Oh, yes, before I go, there is one last thing I have for you." Before I could ask him what he meant by that, he walked up to my besdside and reached into his coat, from which he pulled out a small box tied with a silky pink ribbon, holding it in the light of the candle so that I could see it properly._

_I frowned at the box in confusion. "What is this?" I asked him slowly._

_"You did tell me to bring something back for you from town, did you not?" he asked me with a sly smile and a wink. "Feel free to open it whenever you like." He set the box on the bedside table and blew out the candle, waving his hand about slightly to disperse the faint curls of smoke. He then straightened up, turned to face the door, and exited without another word, the door shutting smoothly behind him and enveloping the room in total silence, leaving me alone to process everything that had just occurred and wonder truly what was going on behind those maroon freckled eyes._

**End Of Flashback**

I had not opened that gift box when I had woken up this morning, and I still hadn't opened it as of now, well past the early morning and heading towards noon. Although I was most certainly curious about it, something inside me had restrained my hand. I still could not comprehend the midnight encounter with my butler, and I couldn't help but feel that despite his sincerity that there was some sort of bigger picture, some secret that Mathias was keeping from me and it was that that made me feel so disturbed. It wasn't that I suspected he was plotting to do harm to me, as I knew for certain that Mathias would never dare or even think of attempting such a thing, moreso I felt as though he had some sort of plan brewing, something relating to my own plan, and he had simply not enlightened me of it yet. Though if that were the case, I had no idea why he would be choosing to hold the information out of my reach for the time being. I felt my head begin to reel at all of the possibilities and I forced myself to set the thoughts aside. _There's no reason to get yourself all worked up now. You have work to do, Ophelia; focus on this some other time. _

I realized that I had never replied to Mathias's earlier statement about Gin. I smiled up at him again and nodded. "Yes, he really is," I said simply.

I felt a gaze other than my butler's on me and I turned to see Ciel looking between Mathias and I, as if trying to calculate all the possible things that our brief conversation could mean. Once he saw that I had noticed he dropped his stare, but I could still see that he was processing it in his head.

"Well," Mathias said, dispersing the brief pause in conversation that had settled over the group, "I most certainly have never heard such… _enthusiasm _when it comes to catching vermin before." He turned to look at Finnian, Baldroy, and Mey-Rin, who had been quiet the whole time, trying to re-straighten the rugs and cover up the whole stampeding incident. They all came back to attention at my butler's words, but he specifically looked at Mey-Rin. "Especially you, Mey," Mathias said with a hint of a smile on his lips. "Most maids that I have encountered before have all been extremely fanciful, never would dream of doing anything that would break a nail. But you have most certainly put all of those stiff-backed girls to shame," he finished.

Ciel sweat-dropped at Mathias's words and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. _Mathias sure can be a ladies man when he wants to be. _It wasn't uncommon to see Mathias milking as much affection as he could from any female admirers, but I had to admit he had taken a particular liking to Mey-Rin. I suppose it was because she was the only woman around and that she was especially enamored with him, more than most. At his compliment the redheaded maid's face flushed pearly pink, and she started to open her mouth as if to giggle like a little girl, but she suddenly cleared her throat and straightened up instead, shrugging her shoulders and folding her arms across her chest to stand in a casually cool position.

"Eh, y'know, just had to do what needed to be done," she said as she flicked her pigtails back behind her shoulders. She tried to do so in a fluid, effortless sort of way, but her arms jolted about stiffly and she looked rather ridiculous. I couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Apparently, yesterday's insult of calling her childish had backfired; instead of Mey-Rin becoming upset with me, she had simply decided to act more "cool" and "grown-up" around Mathias in the hopes of snagging his interests, which really was more bizarre-looking than her previous behavior. The looks on Finnian and Baldroy's faces told me that they felt the same way about how she was acting.

"It was a real rush, y'know, chasing that mouse," Mey-Rin continued. "A good workout, if you ask me." She put one hand on her hip and tried to jut her opposite hipbone out, but it looked like she had been electrocuted as she kept jerking about unnaturally. She then put one foot on top of the rolling pin Baldroy had discarded as if trying to do a cool pose. "And though I may not have caught him, it was a very good experience-"

Mey-Rin had apparently forgotten that rolling pins do in fact, as the name suggests, roll when moved, and the moment she stuck her foot on its wooden surface it rolled forward, causing her foot to go straight up in the air and her to fly up in the air a few inches before starting to fall backwards. "GWAAAAAH!" she shrieked, waving her arms around sporadically as if that would help prevent her fall.

"Don't worry, Mey-Rin! I'll catch you!" Finnian yelled. He started to move towards her, but a black flash slipped past the gardener and caught the floundering maid in his outstretched arms. Mey-Rin turned her head slightly to see who had saved her from crashing into the floor, and instantly her face turned bright red, her eyes shining behind the round glasses.

"Now, now, Mey-Rin, you really need to be more careful. You could have injured someone," Sebastian said, his eyes glimmering. He slowly rose to his feet and helped Mey-Rin stand up properly, his expression courteous and kindly.

Mathias shot him a look and I couldn't help but grin. "Jealous?" I whispered to him. He didn't answer, but I knew that he had heard me. I suppressed a snicker. In the meantime, Mey-Rin had turned to first Sebastian with a huge smile in thanks, and then she looked back to Mathias, and in the presence of both very good-looking men her knees began to knock into each other. She looked hurriedly between the two of them and promptly swooned on the hall rug, little hearts dancing above her head. Clearly she couldn't handle all the handsomeness.

"Gah, Mey-Rin! Are you okay?" Finnian scurried over to her side, face filled with concern. Baldroy rolled his eyes and muttered something about women before walking over to help. I just sweat-dropped, as did Mathias and Ciel. _She really is the definition of a fan girl…._

Ciel suddenly and loudly cleared his throat, bringing a silence to the hall. "Well," he started, "now that all of that nonsense is done with, I believe it is high time we all got back to work." He turned to face Finnian and Baldroy, who each had one of Mey-Rin's arms across their shoulders. "You three, get out of this hall and get started with your usual duties," Ciel ordered. The two men nodded. Baldroy stooped down to grab his rolling pin from the floor and in a matter of minutes the trio had disappeared down the hall. Ciel then turned back to face Mathias, Sebastian and I. "In the meantime, we need to discuss how to go about starting our deal, miss Malory," he said. I nodded, and instantly I felt myself convert into work mode. The time had finally come to start finding out the truth about my family, the truth about the fire, the truth about myself. Everything I had ever done in my life was so that I could reach this moment, this moment of learning the reality of it all so that I could finally get the revenge I so desired. I felt my insides harden with the strength of steel and I subconsciously stood a little straighter and taller. No more fun and games, no more wondering, no more waiting. This was it.

"Then let's not waste any more time," I said firmly as I locked my gaze onto his. "Let's begin."

Ciel nodded, clearly sensing my energy. "Of course. The sooner we can find a lead to work off of, the better our chances. Let's go to my study and begin outlining our plan of action, and then we can move from there." He then turned to face his butler, who stood at the ready. "Sebastian, prepare some tea for us, I feel that we are going to be engrossed in the matter for a while."

Sebastian nodded. "Of course, My Lord. I will bring it to you all as soon as it is ready." He gave his master a brief bow before exiting down the hallway.

"Well," Ciel said after watching Sebastian go, "let's not waste any more time. Let's go." He turned and walked down the hall in the direction of his study. I looked up at Mathias, and we shared a brief, firm nod before following the young earl. As we walked closer and closer to the study I felt a newfound sense of excitement creeping into me, much like what I had felt when we had first arrived at the manor. A smile crept into my lips.

Everything is most certainly going to change. I can feel it.

…

"Well," I said as I took my seat in a chair in front of the young earl's desk, "how do propose we start things?"

There was a brief pause as Ciel took a sip of tea. "All right then," he said as he gently set his teacup back onto its saucer, "before we can start preparing any sort of plan I think it best that you completely enlighten me of just how your parents died, miss Malory." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his lap. "I am aware that they were murdered and your home was burned, but I am interested in the… process of how the men responsible went about it." When he saw my confused expression he explained himself. "Every assassin has his own way of doing things. Whatever method was used to eliminate your parents could be a clue enough in itself to point us towards any number of potential suspects; with a little bit of researching we could track down the guilty party in no time at all." I nodded, as his reasoning made sense to me. At least in this revenge aspect we saw eye-to-eye. Ciel sat back up in his chair and picked up his teacup again. "So, miss Malory, recall as many details as you can from that night. The more information we have to work with, the better."

"All right…." I leaned back against the leather chair and closed my eyes, letting myself travel back about two years to the fateful night. I could physically see my more recent memories rushing past me until I was a small child again, sitting on the big fancy rug my parents had purchased in Moscow in our main hall with my dearest mother, who was petting my little head and preparing to offer to me the gift that changed everything. I could feel the warm light from the crystal chandelier on my face, see the large crystals shimmering in the light, could almost reach out and touch the silken material of my mother's dress, see my tiny, big-eyed self reflected out of my mother's warm caramel gaze. It was almost frightening, how vivid it was, how well I remembered it. I managed to suppress a shudder. I opened my eyes again and saw Ciel behind his desk, Sebastian standing ready next to it, felt Mathias's reassuring presence seated next to me, but the entire room had transformed itself from the earl's study to the massive hall, with my mother and my younger self right in the center of the room. As I opened my mouth to explain the scene before me moved along with my words.

"It was very late that night, nearly two years ago," I began slowly. "I was ten years old, and was about to have a birthday. Normally my mother would have long since tucked me in for the night, but it was a special occasion. We were staying up to await my father's arrival home from a long trip away on business. He was due to arrive any time, and we patiently waited there in the hall." I took a deep breath as I continued. "While we were waiting, my mother brought out something I'd never seen, a music box that had been passed down generation to generation." In the center of the study I saw my mother kneeling down next to me, showing me the glossy, beautifully engraved box. I saw my little mouth move, asking her what the box meant. "She told me that the box was going to be mine next, that it was an early birthday gift. I had been so happy then," I said, a faint smile on my face as I saw my younger self hug my mother tightly, saw my lips spell out the words 'I love you.' If only the memory had stopped there.

"Everything had been perfect in that moment, but after that was when everything started to fall apart." I blinked, and when I re-opened my eyes I saw that Ciel, Sebastian, and Mathias had vanished entirely, leaving me alone to relive my nightmare. "The door opened and my father fell into the doorway. As he fell, I saw red billowing from his back. He had been shot, and by the looks of it, it appeared that the men had ambushed him just as he had started to enter the house." I watched as my father collapsed on the floor of the study, limply spreading across right next to Ciel's desk. "The men opened fire once the door had opened up enough. My mother shoved me aside and took the hit herself. She died instantly." I saw the flashes of light through the study window, watched my tiny self get flung at my own feet, my mother tumbling down to death. "The men entered the house then, overturning the furniture, looking about as if for something in particular." I saw shards of fine china presently litter themselves on the floor of the study. "They grabbed me, spat on me, beat me. They asked me where it was, though of course I don't know what "it" meant; I assumed they meant our money and of course I had no answer for them." I felt myself begin to quiver in my chair. I grasped the arms in an attempt to calm the tremors. "They cast me aside after that, realizing I was nothing. They kept on searching for whatever they had wanted, but didn't appear to find it." My younger self crashed against the bookshelf from where she had been thrown and landed solidly on the study floor amongst the broken china. "It was then," I said, my voice low, "that the flames began to consume everything. Some candles had already been knocked over, but the men began to grab others and used them to alight everything else that was still pure. Everything was being covered by flame, and I remember that all of my senses, by this point, had been possessed by the color red." At those words the study was instantly flooded with an eerie crimson glow and I felt my chest tighten. The frantic tones of the music box suddenly pounded in my ears. I tried to open my mouth to continue but the sheer weight of the memory overtook me and I fell next to my younger self on the floor. The moment I hit the ground everything seemed to rush right back out of me, and all around me it became dark, as if someone had snuffed out the sun and left everything in shadow. I couldn't see the study or my younger self, the fallen bodies or the flames, it had all washed away. I felt my strength return in slow ebbs and I got to my feet. I opened my mouth and said across the darkness where I believed Ciel to be seated, "and after that, I blacked out. When I awoke next, I was alone, lying in the ashen remains of my home, not burned or severely injured, with only the music box left. How I survived, well… that much was a mystery." I looked down and saw that the blackened ground was really soot, the ashes from the house. Beneath it I could see the music box laying there, one perfect, unharmed edge protruding from the blackened mess. The darkness transformed into the night sky, dotted with stars and blissfully unaware of what had just occurred below it. "And that," I said with one last deep breath, "is how Hell took me, chewed me up and swallowed me, and then regurgitated me into a world that I would never be a part of again." I felt myself stand perfectly straight once the sentence had left me. "That is how I was truly born."

At that final line, I felt myself rush forward through time, the memories flowing past me as I re-entered the present. Soon the scene had returned to the familiar setting of the study. The ashes melted away to reveal the study floor. The walls rose up out of the ground and stood permanent, all books lining the shelves. Everything had changed back to its original state, as if nothing had happened at all. I dropped down into my chair again and looked across the way at Ciel, whose expression was impossible to calculate. I knew that he had not seen any of the things that had just been conjured from the depths of my memory banks, but I could see that something in my words had clearly affected him. He took a long drink from his teacup until it was empty, and then gave the cup to Sebastian, who proceeded to re-fill it. He turned back to look at me then, and sat completely up in his chair.

"That was an… extremely detailed retelling, I must say," he began slowly. His visible blue eye regarded me coolly, as it always did, but just below the surface I could see something inexplicably brewing there, though I couldn't quite determine what. Sebastian set the refilled teacup back on its saucer, and Ciel gave his butler a quick nod before turning back to me. "It's a good thing that you remembered all that, too, as it gives us plenty of information to work with. Already I see possibilities for us to stem off from."

"And what would those possibilities be?" I asked him.

"From my understanding of you story," Ciel began, "These men who attacked your home were wanting something more than the money making pieces that most robbers want. You mentioned that they asked you for something in particular, referred to it as 'it'. Of course, we have no way to know just what they meant by that, but considering how they pulled a suicide stunt and died in the flames alongside your parents makes it appear that they did not find it." Ciel leaned forward across the desk, chin resting on the back of his hand. I could see the gears turning beneath his greyish head of hair. "After all, as you have informed me, your family was of great importance where you come from, so any attack on their home would have been easily spotted and extinguished. These men knew it, too, knew that at any time the police would arrive and if captured, torture could very well reduce some of them to revealing their motives. But of course they had to avoid this, because if this were to happen their plan would be ruined. This scenario had already been thought out just in case the worst were to happen, and that's just what did happen; they were unable to find what they had come for, so they let the flames consume them so that their knowledge would die along with them," Ciel finished.

I nodded slowly, my brain processing and analyzing what he had said. "That does make sense," I started. "And if they had simply come for the sole purpose of getting rich, almost everything in our home was worth a fortune. They could have taken any of those dishes, the furniture, anything at all, and walked away as extremely wealthy men. They could have even kidnapped me or my mother for ransom if they were so desperate. But they didn't do any of that. They cast each of us aside as though we were nothing more than captured pieces in a chess game. They let everything burn down into naught. Clearly they are looking for something greater than riches, have a motive far beyond a simple robbery," I finished. "The only question is, what could that motive be?"

"That," Ciel said as he sipped some more tea, "is what we are going to have to find out." He set down the cup again and crossed one leg over the other. "Now that we have some information, we need to find ourselves a lead to begin working off of, and as we uncover more pieces to this puzzle that lead may very well change into something else. Tell me, Ophelia, do you remember anything else about the men that could be of use?"

I frowned and combed my way back through my memory banks. "I am afraid not… I was so overwhelmed by emotion that night that I cannot recall any specifics on how they looked. I only remember that they were wearing all black to conceal themselves, but any robber with some sense would dress himself in that fashion."

Ciel nodded. "I see…" He rested his chin in one hand as he looked down at the table, deep in thought.

"I believe that I already know the answer to this next question, but tell me, did any… remains of the men or your parents manage to survive the fire?"

I shook my head slowly, my gaze flickering down to look at the satin bows on my lace-up heeled boots. "Unfortunately not. The most highly esteemed detectives, scientists, and policemen were sent to inspect the remains of the home. They combed through the entire area and found nothing." A memory came back to me then; I saw tiny, young, pale hands frantically digging through the ashes, lifting them up and letting the tiny particles disperse through my fingers, tears mixing in with the black substance. I swallowed and forced the uncomfortable memory back down.

"I figured as much," Ciel said, "but you never know." He traced the edge of his tea saucer with one finger, still thinking. "If any remains had been found that night, that could have been an extremely key piece to this puzzle, as identification of one of the men could have tied him in to any one number of groups, individuals, addresses, or the like. But I suppose we will just have to get other information from another source." Ciel lifted his gaze again to meet mine. "Speaking of other information, do you perhaps know of anything else that could be of use to this case? Anything that could point us towards a feasible lead?"

"Hmm… as a matter of fact, now that you mention it I do have one thing. I don't know how much it can help us, but anything's worth a shot." I turned to face Mathias, who had been seated quietly next to me throughout the discussion. "Go get my bag out of my bedroom. Armoire, top shelf." My butler nodded, slowly rose to his feet, and exited the room.

"What exactly is this item that you have?" Ciel asked me.

"It's an old newspaper, printed the week following the death of my parents and the burning of the home. There may be information in it that we can use." Presently Mathias returned to the study, holding a black messenger-style bag in one hand. He offered it out to me and I took it from him with a nod in thanks. I then opened the bag and pulled out the newspaper. It was starting to brown and yellow from age and it was extremely crinkly, as I had first found it lying on a street corner in the rain. Fortunately the water had not blurred the main title on the front page, which read "Malory Home Burned; Only One Survivor" and was dated in the year 1886, one year previous. I got out of my seat and walked up to Ciel's desk, dropping the newspaper down in front of him. He pulled the paper over to himself and lifted it up, reading the article. I saw his blue eye skimming along the contents fairly quickly but I could tell he was absorbing in every last piece of information. In a matter of moments, he finished the article and set the newspaper back down on the desk. He lifted his gaze back up to meet mine.

"At first I was unsure of how useful this story would be, but upon reading it I already see where we need to go with it. Tell me, miss Malory, what do you know about the author of this report?" He turned the paper back around so that it was facing me right-side-up, and he placed his pointer finger next to the person's name. I leaned down and squinted to read the somewhat crumpled ink. The name printed was Prof. Charles Philips.

"Oh, him? He's one of the most esteemed reporters from where I used to live," I explained. "He used to be an English teacher at a university when he was younger, so that's why he has "Professor" in his title. I suppose he just liked the way it sounded so he decided to keep it." I tried to think of what else I remembered of the man, as he had met with me to discuss information regarding the fire. "He did interview me once, regarding what happened, and I remember he was a very kindly man who wanted the honest truth. He had the utmost respect in the journalism sphere and could get anyone he needed for interviews. He gathered up as much information as possible to ensure that his final story would be extremely accurate and non-biased. He used to be very active in his pursuit of information, but about three months after he interviewed me, he was horribly injured in a sudden carriage accident, was paralyzed from the waist down." I recalled how I had seen the headline of Philips's injury on the front page of a paper one day when out with Mathias. "Now he's confined to a wheelchair, and as such, he has people who will help gather and bring the information to him. He still writes all of the stories, but the information is simply gathered through the hands of his associates."

Ciel nodded. "That last bit of information I did know about. I also happen to know that Mr. Philips has associates scattered all across England so that he can get information from all across the country if he so needs it. I know this because of things that I've heard." Ciel pointed down in the story at some of the interviews in it. "A couple of the names listed here, these doctors and such, are based out of London, right where we are. I've heard of these names a couple of times before." He looked up at me again. "That means that one of his associates must be here in London, right down at the local newspaper in town. It would only make sense that Philips have an associate in position here, in the capital of our country. This paper was from only one year previous, so I highly doubt any of Philip's sources have relocated in such a short time. If we can locate one of his associates, we can then contact Philips himself and obtain access to the information that he used to write his story on your family. That information in itself could very well solve the mystery of your family, miss Malory."

At Ciel's words I felt a rush of excitement enter my stomach. "You're quite right, Phantomhive. A reporter would never discard information that could still be of use later on." I felt myself straighten up, a smile creeping onto my face. "So, what I'm hearing is, we go into town to the press today, and that could very well have us on to our answer by the end of the week?"

Ciel's eyebrows quirked up, as he could clearly hear the passion sneaking into my voice. "I wouldn't assume that it's simply that easy, miss Malory. You never know what… complications we could encounter along the way, or if by going to the press we will even be able to attain enough information to find out who killed your family. This newspaper business is most definitely a start, but we cannot jump ahead too far quite yet."

I frowned. I supposed that the young earl had a point, but still, it was quite thrilling to already have a lead to work with. "Alright, I'll keep my expectations low. But it's still rather exciting, wouldn't you agree?"

Ciel smirked. "I haven't been overly moved by something in quite some time, miss Malory." He rose from his desk and looked across the room at Mathias and Sebastian. "Well, that settles it," the earl began, "we will go into town and see what information we can attain from the press." He turned to face his butler. "Sebastian, go prepare the carriage."

The butler smiled. "But of course, My Lord." He bowed before Ciel and then exited the room.

Once Sebastian had gone, Ciel turned back to face us, first looking at Mathias, and then at me. "As for you two, prepare whatever you may need for our trip into town and then come meet me at the carriage. We leave straightaway." And at that, Ciel exited the room, the door swinging closed behind him. Once he had gone, Mathias and I exchanged a look, and I could tell we both had the same thought in mind.

This is going to be absolutely brilliant. The revenge is so close I can almost taste it.

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The carriage ride had been long and boring. Ciel sat alone on one side of the carriage, and Ophelia and Mathias occupied the other. The strange butler simply looked out the window, eyes on the passing scenery, while Ophelia couldn't seem to focus on any one thing. Ciel watched as her eyes flickered from her lap to her butler to the window to her shoes to the seat upon which she sat. Occasionally she would make eye contact with him but she didn't try to initiate any conversation. Ciel could see the intensity poking through behind her eyes, controlling her every movement. She was clearly on edge about this first move in the game, which was understandable. He could almost see the contents of her mind, see her mapping out all of the possible outcomes of today's meeting.

The young earl proceeded to look out of the window. They were well into London now, fast approaching their destination. He felt suspicion began to creep in. _This all feels… too easy. Almost set-up. _Ciel couldn't help but wonder if they would really find any information today, or if It was just going to be a mistake. He felt his gaze flicker back over to Ophelia, who was now sharing a brief word with her butler. She had one hand lifted to hide her mouth as she whispered in Mathias's ear. His speckled red eyes were locked on the floor, but he nodded at whatever it was she was saying. Ophelia removed her hand and leaned away from her butler, proceeding then to look out of the window much in the same fashion Ciel had done. Mathias lifted his gaze from the floor, and it rested on Ciel for a moment, as if he knew that the young earl had been watching them. His crimon eyes glimmered for a brief second before he looked out the window once more. Ciel recalled Ophelia and Mathias's short conversation earlier that day, how there had been a long pause before Ophelia had responded to her butler. Ciel looked back at Mathias again, who did not appear to notice. He most certainly did not trust that butler, he was a very intense man and Ciel sensed that there was some backstory, something that had happened between Mathias and Ophelia that he did not know of. At least, not _yet. _Before he could contemplate that though, he felt the carriage come to a halt. Ciel proceeded to pick up his cane from where it leaned against the seat and Mathias and Ophelia straightened up as Sebastian came around to the door, opening it with a kindly smile.

"My Lord, we have arrived at your destination," Sebastian said.

Ciel nodded. "Well, let's not waste time. We'd better go see what we can find." He looked across the carriage at Mathias and Ophelia, who nodded in agreement. Ophelia's expression was especially earnest.

"Lead the way, Guard Dog," she said with a smirk.

Ciel returned the gesture. "It would be my pleasure." He climbed out of the carriage with Ophelia directly behind him, Mathias bringing up the rear. Sebastian shut the door once everyone was out, and the four of them all turned to face the building that they had come for. The newspaper was made in a relatively large building in the middle of London. It looked the same as the other buildings, clean brick with numerous rows of windows and the name of the paper printed on the signboard, located directly above the door. It was such a simple building, yet it held so much value to them. Ciel looked over at Ophelia and saw that her gaze was locked onto the building, her eyes narrowed. In the overcast afternoon light it was hard to tell, but it looked as though her eyes flickered bright green as she stared at the building. Ciel recalled how her eyes had done the same thing when she entered the cellar of the old tavern, right after she'd disemboweled the men. He couldn't help but wonder if it was some trick of the light, or if there was something else going on. But before he could think of that, Ophelia turned to look at him, a grin on her face.

"Well, what are we waiting for, Phantomhive? Let's forget the loitering and get going on this." She started to move past him and make her way for the door. However, in a quick decision, Ciel raised his arm, blocking her path. She paused and looked at him with a frown this time. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I think it best that I go in first, alone," Ciel started. When he saw the look that began to brew in Ophelia's face he quickly explained his reasoning. "Miss Malory, in this part of the country I am obviously well-known. I feel that if I first try to locate Charles Philip's associates with just Sebastian at my side, that would have more impact. We may even be able to obtain more information in this fashion."

Ophelia just stared. "Are you bloody daft? This is **_my case. _**It only makes sense that I go in with you, does it not? What has gotten into you?"

Ciel breathed deeply. "Just trust me on this, would you? We are partners, after all. Prove to me that you are willing to take my advice." He watched as her red lips parted to retort, but after a pause she closed them again.

Ophelia crossed her arms across her tiny frame. "Fine. But you're asking for it if you screw this up."

Ciel just flashed her a hint of a smile. "I wouldn't dream of it, Miss Malory." He then turned to face Sebastian. "Sebastian, you will accompany me inside."

His butler nodded. "But of course." He then came to stand next to his young master.

Ciel nodded and then turned to face Mathias and Ophelia. "You two stay here. We should be back shortly." They both nodded to him, but he could see that Ophelia was plotting all the different methods of punishment if he failed. Not that he would. He was a Phantomhive after all, and he rarely lost. Ciel then turned to face the door and walked up, Sebastian right behind him. As he opened the door he couldn't help but feel that his every move was being watched, and that it wasn't his partner or her butler that was doing it.

…

Ciel was met with a rush of cold air as he entered the building. All at once he was surrounded by the sound of typewriters clacking, phones ringing, and just a general cursory of voices, too many to count and melding into one another so that any one conversation was inexplicable. But the young earl didn't care for all the noise, he just had one thing he needed to accomplish. The earl crossed the floor to the main desk, where an overweight man with a moustache sat, rummaging through papers. Sebastian came to stand next to Ciel as they stopped at the desk. The man was currently on the phone, but he looked up to the two of them and raised a finger as if to say "just one moment" while he continued to leaf through his papers.

"Mhm… yes, indeed. No, I do not, I apologize. Would you like me to have a message put in… alright, will do. Thank you for your time." The man presently hung up the phone and wrote something down on a blank sheet of paper before he lifted his gaze to Ciel and Sebastian. "Ah, hello there. I apologize for the delay. Is there anything I can help you two gentlemen wi-" the man's brown eyes presently widened as he recognized the top hat and cane, the eye patch and head of blue-grey hair. "Y-you're the Earl Phantomhive!" the man exclaimed in surprise. He quickly sat up and hurriedly tried to push the mess of papers on his desk aside to make his workplace appear a bit more presentable. "What can I help you with this fine afternoon, young man?"

Ciel couldn't help but smirk at the man floundering about, trying to look better than the disorganized oaf he really was. But he didn't focus on it long. "I'm working on a case of sorts, and I was wondering if I could talk to one of your journalists here, see if I can get any information to assist me."

The man nodded earnestly. "But of course! We have all kinds of people who I'm sure would love to aid you and your case. Who is it you would like to speak to today?"

"I do not know their exact name, but whomever in your establishment that works closely with reporter Professor Charles Philips is who I would like to speak with," Ciel replied.

The man stroked his moustache in thought. "Charles…. Charles…. Ah yes!" The man presently looked up, eyes filled with understanding. "I know just the man, and I believe his associate is here today. One moment, I will go find them now." The man then pushed his chair back, slowly rose to his feet, and lumbered off down the hall.

"Well," Ciel said as he watched the man's retreating form, "I honestly was not expecting it to be that easy."

"Let's just wait and see, _bocchan_," replied Sebastian, his red eyes glimmering. "we may just have conflict yet."

A flash of movement caught Ciel's eye, and he looked up to see that the moustached man was already returning. He scuttled down the hall with what seemed to be urgency. His eyes flickered all over, as if trying to make sure no one was watching or following him. Ciel felt something start to tug in the pit of his stomach, and he felt his jaw clench. _Something is most certainly up. _"You may just be right again, Sebastian," Ciel said, his eyes never leaving the man. "You may just be right."

The man finally reached the desk and plunked down in his chair, massive beads of perspiration gleaming on his ruddy forehead as he let out a shaky breath. Ciel had a feeling that although the man was clearly out of shape, that that sweat was there for another reason. The man cleared his throat and looked back up at Ciel and Sebastian. "I-I must apologize to you two," he began hurriedly. "I thought I knew who you were talking about, but it turns out I don't have a clue about an Charles Philips. Neither does anyone in the building. I sincerely apologize for the confusion," he finished, his tone exasperated, and his eyes wide.

"I find it funny you say that," Ciel began, eyes narrowed somewhat, "because not even five minutes ago you were so certain of this man, so eager to help us. And yet now, your story is suddenly different." He put his hands on the desk and leaned forward, causing the man to let out an almost inaudible yelp. "Are you sure that there's nothing you care to tell me, sir?"

The man just sat there, gaping at Ciel, his mouth opening and closing over and over. Finally he took a deep breath and spoke again. "I… I know what you must be thinking. But I assure you that this was just an honest mistake and I do sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. I wish you the best of luck with your case, but I really must be getting back to work now." He quickly dropped his gaze from Ciel's and began to rummage through his papers again.

Ciel remained in his position for a few more moments, then leaned back and removed his hands from the desk as he knew the man would not say more. "Alright then. I suppose I'll be going now, so that perhaps I can salvage something after you've gone and wasted my time like this. Come along, Sebastian," Ciel said, gathering his cane, "we're leaving now." Sebastian nodded and the two made their way out of the door. As Sebastian opened the door for his young master he turned again to look at the man, who was trying to discreetly peer up at them and watch them leave. The butler narrowed his eyes at the moustached man and shot him a cold look, causing the man to jolt and stare down at his papers again. Sebastian then smirked and exited after Ciel, the door swinging closed behind them.

Once the two had left, the man sat up in his chair and exhaled massively, using one shaky hand to dab the sweat away with a handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket. With one last look to make sure that they had gone, he picked up his pen, scribbled down a new note on his sheet of paper, and began to dial a number into the phone on his desk, all the while looking about to make sure that nobody was watching him.

…

Ciel made his way back to the carriage, Sebastian right behind him. Ophelia and Mathias were still there, right where he had left them, and they appeared to be engaged in conversation. Mathias whispered something under his breath that made Ophelia laugh, a short, cold sound that Ciel wasn't accustomed to hearing. However, as master and butler got closer to the carriage, the conversation ended and Ophelia turned to face Ciel, arms across her chest, eyes smoldering.

"Well?" she asked.

_Oh great. She's going to be pissed._

"Well," Ciel began, "I asked them if they knew of any associates to Professor Philips."

"And?" Ophelia countered. She stepped right up to Ciel so that she was in his face, her eyes narrowing to pastel green slits. "Did you fuck it up? Or did you actually do something right?"

_She already knows._

Ciel narrowed his eye at her and shot her a look. "Well, I most certainly did not, as you chose to word it, 'fuck things up.'"

"But you didn't _get _any information, did y-" Ciel raised a hand and shot her another look, this time far colder than his first. Ophelia shut her mouth.

"Let me explain," said Ciel sharply. "The man inside was extremely eager to help us. He said that he knew of Charles Philips and that he also knew exactly who we could talk to in relation to him. So he went down the hallway to locate the associate, but he returned not even five minutes later, and was acting very flustered and intense. He then told Sebastian and I that he was mistaken and had no idea who Charles Philips was and that no one else there did either, right after he had been so certain that he knew who Philips was." Ciel proceeded to look down at the ground, deep in thought. "It sounds to me as if someone got to him, someone who doesn't want us to talk with this Philips. Though why on earth that could be, I haven't got a clue."

Ophelia frowned, raising one hand to her chin. "That's… odd," she began. "It definitely sounds that way. God, this is really bloody annoying." She suddenly looked up to Ciel again, and he saw that her anger was bubbling up further behind her eyes. "I'm going to go in there and talk to him, and I'm _not _going to be as cordial." Ciel saw her hands clench into fists at her sides, locking onto fistfuls of her black draped skirt. "Perhaps a second party coming in will change his tongue… I'm going to make _sure _that I get that information. No more bloody time's getting wasted on my watch."

Ciel raised an eyebrow. _She really needs to work on her temper. _"I really don't think you going in there is going to make much of a difference, Miss Malory. He sounded as though he wasn't going to budge."

"Oh, I'll **_make _**his ass budge," she growled. "Say what you want, Phantomhive, but I'm going in there and you cannot stop me." She suddenly whipped around to face her butler, who had been standing silent by the carriage doors. "Mathias, you're coming in with me. Hurry up." Ophelia turned on her heel and started marching up to the doors of the building, the ribbon on the back of her skirt swishing about haphazardly with her loaded footsteps. Mathias quickly followed her and pulled the door open for her before disappearing inside himself.

Ciel felt himself sweat-drop. "Whoever would have guessed an eleven-year old would have such a nasty temper?"

Sebastian chuckled. "She really is fiesty, isn't she? I'm surprised you haven't attempted to cuff her."

"Oh, believe me, sometimes I've considered it…" Ciel glanced down at the blue ring on his thumb. A memory came back to him then, a memory of Elizabeth throwing his ring, causing it to shatter across the floor, how he had been so furious in that moment and had lifted his hand to strike. "…but a certain butler of mine taught me that a gentleman doesn't act like that." He lifted a knowing gaze to his butler then.

"That butler taught you very well," Sebastian said with a sly wink. He smiled down at his young master, but the sound of a door opening caused him to direct his attention to the building. "Oh, look who's already coming back," he said.

Sure enough, Ophelia and Mathias were already heading back to the carriage. Ophelia was staring at the ground and muttering all sorts of profanities under her breath. Mathias had no expression, but his eyes were shimmering again, something going on just below the surface.

"I can't fucking believe it," she growled as she got back to where Ciel and Sebastian stood.

Grinning slyly, Ciel crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Ophelia.

"Well?" he asked her in the same fashion that she had asked him mere minutes ago.

"Oh, shut up," she spat. Ciel just smirked at her. "The man wouldn't bloody talk to me! I told him what I needed but he just blurted out that he couldn't help me over and over. I tried to ask him some questions but he just kept cutting me off, saying he couldn't help me. Sick bastard. But you know what's funny, Phantomhive?"

"What?" he asked.

"I told him that I was working with you, Earl Ciel Phantomhive, on the case, and that you had just tried asking for his help, and you know what he did? He denied even having a conversation with you to begin with! 'I'm sorry, miss, really I am, but I have no idea what you're talking about! No Phantomhive came here, trust me if he did I most certainly woulda remembered that!' Then he threatened to call the police if I didn't leave, so at that point I just thought 'fuck it' and left," she finished. "God, I don't know what's going on, but this is really getting on my nerves."

"Hmm… so he completely _denied _our entire conversation…." Ciel mulled over what Ophelia had said, gritting his teeth. _Bastard. _"Well," he said, looking back up to Ophelia and Mathias, "that in itself proves that there's something bigger going on here. It appears that there is a person, or multiple persons, that may know about what we are doing. And clearly, whoever they are, they don't want us to get the information Charles Philips has. They don't want us to obtain any clues that may possibly help us onto the right track. So I guess that means we're going to have to be more careful from now on."

"Yeah, alright, agreed, but what are we gonna do now? " Ophelia asked. "Going to the press was a complete failure, and we've come all this way."

"Well," Mathias began, "there is always the possibility of checking around town for anything. Granted, we very well may not find something, but it's worth a shot, is it not?"

"I suppose the butler does have a point," said Sebastian with a quick glance at Mathias, who simply looked back at Sebastian and said nothing. Sebastian turned to face his young master. "What do you say, _bocchan_? A little walking never hurt anyone, did it?"

Ciel frowned. Honestly, he didn't want to waste any more time with petty things. And considering how furious Ophelia had been as of late, he figured that she felt the same way. But then again, just walking through town had caused him and Sebastian to spot that bald-headed man before, and had thus allowed them to finish their earlier case. _Who knows? Maybe we will see someone else of interest today as well… _"All right," he said finally, mind made up, "we walk. Sebastian, lead the way."

"But of course." The handsome butler began walking down the street, with Mathias and Ophelia following suit. Ciel brought up the rear, walking behind Ophelia. He couldn't help but notice just how severely tall her heels were. _Good God, how can she, let alone anyone, walk in those? They make her nearly five inches taller than she really is. _

"I can see a lot more things this way, walking in these heels," Ophelia said without turning around. "Plus, it makes me taller than you, Phantomhive." Ciel felt himself bristle.

It's as if she read my mind… Miss Malory, you really are one of the strangest people that I've ever met.

Even though he couldn't see her face, he was almost certain that there was a smirk across it.

…

"Say, Phantomhive, isn't that your toy company over there?"

Ciel jolted out of his thoughts and looked to where Ophelia's ringed finger was pointing. They had been walking around for around half an hour, and as he suspected, there wasn't any suspicious activity or a single clue making itself visible to them. Ciel had become a bit bored with the stroll and had let his mind wander, but Ophelia's question had brought him back to reality. Just as she had suspected, the Funtom toy company stood tall on the opposite end of the street where they were walking. Toys of all sorts lined the display window and Ciel could see throngs of children both inside and out, admiring all of the things he had created for them to purchase. At the sight of the busy establishment Ciel couldn't help but feel his chest swell with pride. No matter what task awaited him, he could always count on his business to run smoothly. "Yes, indeed it is," he finally answered.

"I've gotta say, I'm impressed, Phantomhive," Ophelia started as she watched a young girl and her mother leave the store, "I never guessed someone as cold as you could make so many children happy on a regular basis."

Ciel scoffed. "Ha. For a moment there, Miss Malory, I thought you were actually going to compliment me."

"As if," she countered. "The day we end the case is the day I'll ever compliment the likes of you. And my compliment will be 'good riddance, the only thing I've ever liked about you is that I no longer have to deal with you anymore.'"

"I don't think that's really a complement, my lady," Mathias chimed in.

"Please," Ophelia replied back, a hint of a smile on her face, "in terms of _him_? That's as good of a compliment as it can get."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, laugh while you can, Miss Malo-" A sudden tug on his coat caused the young earl to pause. He stopped walking and turned, irritated, until he saw who it was.

Standing there and looking up at him was the young boy that he had seen in the cage next to him when he had been held hostage. Now that it was daylight, Ciel could easily see what the boy looked like. He was short and gangly, dressed in the typical garb that a young boy of the upper class would wear: A crisp white shirt underneath a red vest embellished with gold buttons and gold trim, brown dress trousers and buckled leather shoes. A massive light brown, hooded, wool cape coat hung loosely over his tiny frame, hiding some of the luxurious clothes. His short sandy colored hair was neatly brushed and he would have looked perfectly normal if it weren't for the bandage and gauze that wrapped around part of his face, covering his right eye. Ciel recalled how the boy had been badly injured, with one of his eyes swollen entirely shut. Despite the obvious injury, however, the boy's good eye, a bright shade of green, was shining brightly as he looked up at the young earl. He just stood there, smiling, hands swinging at his sides, almost as if his only intent in coming up to Ciel was to stare at him.

"Have you made yourself a friend, My Lord?" Sebastian inquired as he came over to Ciel and the boy. The boy turned then to look up at Sebastian, his eyes getting wider at the sight of the tall man.

"Doubt it. We all know Ciel has no friends," Ophelia said with a smirk to her lips.

Ciel ignored her. "That's one way you could put it I suppose," he replied, still looking at the boy. "He and I were both hostages of Circle of Bane's gang members. I suppose he remembered me well enough to want to say hello." At Ciel's words, the boy turned back to the young earl, looking him over with that one big green eye, smiling widely. Ciel couldn't help but feel a bit unnerved. _Why is he just looking at me like that…? And why is he by himself? Doesn't he have parents to keep an eye on him? _

"Marcus! There you are!"

_…I suppose that answers that question._

At that moment, an overpowering floral scent slammed into Ciel's nostrils as a somewhat busty young woman rushed up to the group, gathering folds of her massive silk hoopskirt in her hands so that she would not fall. She was dressed rather lavishly; in addition to the dress, a lavish piece with a laced corset upper, she had on black sheer hose tucked into black crinkled stiletto boots, lacy gloves to her upper arms, long diamond earrings and a matching choker. Her honey-colored hair was pulled back in a chignon bun held in place with a hairclip adorned with amethysts. The woman, Ciel figured, was clearly aware of the wealth and beauty she possessed and was not afraid to show it off. She came to a halt next to the boy and looked down at him, exasperated. He just looked up at the woman slowly as if he had not done a thing. "Marcus, darling," the woman crooned, "you can't just run off like that! You could get lost!" The boy, whom Ciel now knew to be Marcus, hung his head low and slunked back over to his mother, resting his little head against her hip. "Oh, don't be that way," the woman scoffed, "I only say these things because I care about you!" She ruffled his sandy hair with her long, pale fingers before turning to face Ciel and the others. "My sincerest apologies," she said, "I hope that my little one here has caused you no inconvenience."

"Not at all," Ciel replied. "Your son has been quite well-behaved."

The woman nodded at Ciel, brushing a loose strand of curled hair from her face. "He was raised well…." she paused then as she realized to whom she was speaking to. "Wait a moment," she said, indigo eyes widening somewhat, "you're that Phantomhive fellow, aren't you? You're the one who helped to rescue my little boy from those horrid people!" Marcus nodded vigorously at his mother's statement and she smiled down at the young earl. "Thank you very much for what you did, young man. I don't know what I would have done had I lost my son."

Ciel nodded at her. "I'll do whatever it takes to attain the justice Her Majesty wants. Though," he said as he turned to the rest of the group, "I was not alone in my efforts. Miss Ophelia Malory and her butler, Mathias Keane, and my own butler, Sebastian Michaelis, all aided in bringing your son back to you."

The woman smiled at them. "I am so glad- oh wait, what am I saying? I haven't properly introduced myself to you all. My apologies!" She turned back to face Ciel and held out one perfectly manicured hand. "Madam Evalyn Bradly. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Ciel took her hand and shook it firmly. "The pleasure is mine." Evalyn smiled down at him before proceeding to shake hands with Ophelia and then Mathias, nodding a thanks to each of them as well. When she shook Mathias's hands his eyes held hers, and a small smile raised her pink lips, but when she reached Sebastian the smile became an earnest grin. Ophelia's eyebrows quirked up as Mathias looked over in an expression that suggested disappointment. Ciel couldn't help but smile at the man himself. _I guess he can't win over the heart of every woman he meets… pity._

"I must say, Madam," Sebastian said as he shook Evalyn's hand, "that dress you have on really suits your skin tone. Whomever styled it for you must be very talented." He met her eyes and flashed her his most courteous smile.

Evalyn's lips parted to reveal perfect white teeth as she returned the smile. "Thank you very much. Custom tailored from the finest silks by designers in Milan. It truly is hard to find quality quite like this anywhere else." She looked up into Sebastian's red eyes with her indigo ones for another brief moment before she stepped back, returning to where her son stood waiting. "Well, as much as I would love to stay and chat, I am sure you have things you must be attending to, as I do. I'd better be off." She turned to look back down at Ciel for one last time that day. "Thank you again for what you did. I shant forget it." She took Marcus's small hand in her own and began to make her way down the street past the group. "It was excellent meeting you, Miss Malory. Mr. Keane… Mr. Michaelis." Her gaze lingered on Sebastian for a few more moments before she turned away to face the crowds in the street, her long skirt swishing about her. Marcus turned his little head as he walked and waved back at them, his good eye on Ciel. The young earl lifted a hand in farewell. He watched as both Evalyn and her son blended in with the bustling throngs until they had vanished into the crowd.

"Well, that certainly was an… interesting encounter," said Ciel. He wrinkled his nose, the floral perfume still trapped in his nostrils.

"Yes, those two were certainly something," Sebastian replied. "That Miss Bradly in particular… you don't see many women like her."

Ciel looked up at his butler then, saw something swirling about in the depths of his red eyes. "You were enamored with her, perhaps?" Ciel quirked up his eyebrows with a smirk to his butler.

"Don't be silly, _bocchan. _I am not one to become enamored, you know that. I was just impressed by her appearance is all; I haven't seen a silk dress of that caliber in quite some time." The butler waved a dismissive hand. Ciel figured he'd let that part of the conversation go, but he knew Sebastian was keeping some thoughts to himself. "And besides," Sebastian continued, "her aside, it was very heartwarming to see the small boy come and thank you, My Lord."

"Well, he didn't _exactly _thank me, he just stood there mute, if you recall." Although he knew it shouldn't bother him, Ciel couldn't help but wonder why Marcus hadn't spoken. After all, the small boy had looked up with that massive smile, as if so many words of praise were bottling up below its surface and were waiting to rush out. It had appeared to him as if the boy had wanted to speak, but… perhaps he was wrong. It was just a matter concering a child, after all, nothing more, nothing less. More than likely he would never cross paths with the Bradlys again. Even so, the young earl couldn't help but feel that the small boy and his mother would be back again.

"Perhaps he was just too excited in your presence to speak," Sebastian replied, waving a dismissive hand again. You are a big name around here after all."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Ciel said, peering at the arrays of people moving through the streets. Even so he could still feel that odd sense of foreshadowing lingering over him.

Sebastian peered down at his young master for a brief moment, and then spoke again. "Well, My Lord, since we have not been able to locate any further information on this trip into town and it is starting to become late, should we return to the manor?"

Ciel broke out of his little reverie and looked up to his butler with a nod. "Yes, I believe we should. Ophelia, Mathias, did you hear all that? We're heading back."

There was no answer.

It suddenly became very apparent to Ciel that Ophelia had not made one of her little snide comments in quite some time, a very uncommon thing for her. Ciel quickly shoved past Sebastian, who moved out of the way as he already knew.

Ciel saw nothing but empty pavement and the bustle of street goers.

Ophelia and Mathias were gone.

* * *

**Cliffhanger time! I was originally planning on including a little more to this chapter, but I figured leaving it like this would have more impact. ;) So as you can see, I've introduced more mystery (I think we all saw that one coming) and two new OC's, Marcus and his mother, Evalyn. Only time will tell if Ciel's prediction of the duo reappearing in the story comes true... and only time will tell what happened to Ophelia and Mathias as well. Guess you'll have to keep reading, eh? **

**Before I go for today, I have something EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that I need to inform all of you readers of: I'm going to be going on vacation soon (woot, woot!), and because of that I am not going to be updating for a considerable bit of time (sad woot). In the next few days I'm going to try to get the next chapter of my ROTG fan fiction up, key word being "try," but other than that I'm not going to be on here for a while. I'll try to write the next parts of the next chapter in my notebook when I have time, but more than likely it's still going to be a while before another chapter. I hope that you'll be patient and stick with my story nonetheless. Thanks. :3**

**So on that note, I'd best be off. I wish all of you a great day. Until next time!**

**-MellowPaper **


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